BitterxSweet
by DrawerElma
Summary: A young boy is trying to run away from his future while another is trying to bury his past. In a huge pool of lies and confusion will they ever find the truth? YxYY
1. Unreliable

A loud scream echoed through a small house in the city of Domino.

Everyone in the neighborhood had been asleep long ago, so no one was around to hear the yelling or pay attention to it. As the night covered the streets, the shouting slowly faded away.

A young man with spiky hair and tanned skin exited a small house in complete rage. His outfit consisted of a red shirt accompanied by a pair of jeans. Despite the fact of it being late, he seemed to be far more concerned about what was going on inside of the house. How could someone be able to get any sleep with such a racket? He eventually sat down at the porch's ledge, cursing lightly in annoyance.

"Why did I have to come along when it was all your fault," the tanned male asked in a loud tone so the other person who was following him out could hear.

"I'm getting bored of your whining, Atem." A more soothing deep voice said not showing any sign of rage but more content.

The owner of the new voice exited the house and stepped out on the porch to stand next to the other male. His outfit wasn't the slightest bit similar, instead he was covered in leather from head to toe and wasn't equally as tanned as the other. One could easily say they were brothers, or even twins. They had the same hair and even the same features. The only difference, however, was that the tanned, spiky haired male was about four or five years older and somewhat taller. The one who had just walked out held a Popsicle in his hand while completely ignoring what the older man, Atem, was saying.

"Yami, if you don't call our parents right now, I'll get REALLY angry with you!"

The other teen named Yami laughed in amusement while he bit the remaining pieces of his Popsicle and gulped them down whole. Staring at the bright lights that lit up the street in a gloomy mood was much more entertaining to him than listening to nagging. He seemed to be examining the area from left to right, finding the new change of scenery very thrilling. The darkness didn't scare him much. Instead, it felt very mysterious and welcoming.

"Come on, give your brother a break," he laughed, not even bothering to look at how seriously Atem took this situation.

Atem's rage seemed to amuse Yami, which only lead their little dispute to further shouts.

Atem had tolerated his brother's comments long enough for one night. He pulled himself up from his seat and grabbed Yami by the choker.

"This isn't the slightest bit funny! Thanks to you we're trapped here!" Yami raised a brow at his older brother not even fazed by the fact he'd launched himself at Yami in rage.

"Trapped? More like freed." He pushed himself away from his brother while he threw the stick from the Popsicle away in the bushes.

Yami was not concerned over what happened just moments ago. He wasn't going to give in to his brother. No, not ever. Even if Atem was his older brother, he shouldn't expect Yami to always give in to his commands. Especially not in situations like these.

"See you later, I have school to attend tomorrow morning." Yami smirked and patted his brother on the shoulder whilst walking back into the house.

The older male wanted to bash his brother's head in so bad for being stubborn. It was hard to tell if it was a curse or a blessing that the younger one of them never gives up on anything. Atem screamed out again in frustration, but luckily no one was awake to hear him. They had just moved in, after all, they wouldn't want their neighbors to think they're a bunch of wacko's.

Atem followed Yami back inside, sighing while turning to lock the door. All his hope had been lost of winning this argument or convincing his brother of calling their parents. The problem, which was their parents, seemed to be exactly what they were arguing about.

Atem looked down on his brother in defeat.

"Do I have to beg you? PLEASE call them and say you're sorry…"

"The hell I will," Yami was getting evermore agitated by the second. He refused to even look at his brother. All that he offered was a slow wave and a "goodnight". Yami headed up the stairs after that. His room was located right in front of the huge staircase on the top floor.

Despite them having a huge house, there were no paintings or decorations anywhere, at least not like most houses would have.

Atem followed him up and went into a room next to his brother.

"You're not going to last here. I give you two weeks."

Yami simply chuckled at his brother's comment. Atem's fury only seemed to amuse, not scare.

"Whatever you say, princess." Yami closed his door and that marked the end of their little dispute. Yami's room wasn't very decorated either. It was a small room, only large enough for a bed, desk, and small shelf for books or what seemed to be cards for him. There was a small window above his bed where the moonlight would shine through. He pushed the curtains aside every night to look at the outdoor scenery while he covered it back up whenever morning came. For someone who originally came from a very sunny and warm environment, he seemed to enjoy the dark better.

"Tomorrow, new school, new teachers, new… people. Yes, this is going to be just freaking FANTASTIC." Yami yawned. Sarcasm could only make one more tired this late at night. Jetlag didn't help, either.

"I just hope I don't make a scene. Well, I guess if I keep my mouth shut and stay low, no one will pay attention to me, as usual." For some reason, Yami seemed to plan out how to handle tomorrow's class. It was his first day in a new school, though it didn't seem to be a permanent change to him. This is why he had to plan out exactly what to do, to make sure he was left alone for the small amount of time he'd spend in Domino High. The Japanese language was a bit of a pain to understand, but that wouldn't be a problem in this school. Luckily, all teachers spoke English. At least that's what his father claimed, but who knows? The old man could have probably said that to mess with Yami. The exhausted teen lied down in bed without changing clothes and just fell asleep. Maybe tomorrow would be a more suitable time for thoughts and questions as of **why** he had to travel to Japan from Egypt in such a rush.

* * *

"Yug! Ey! Over 'ere!" A boy named Joey waved to a figure that was approaching the classroom at a slow pace. Joey was sitting on top of a desk, waiting for this 'Yug' to come and greet him like he'd done every day. He failed to notice that something was definitely unusual about this morning. A taller male was looking down at him, almost as if the blonde committed a murder.

"Get the hell off my desk, you mutt." The very tall male with dark brown hair and piercing green eyes threatened while he used his suitcase to knock the blonde down flat on his face. Anzu, who was another one of Joey's friends, walked towards Joey and helped him up, scolding the taller teen for hurting her friend. The cruel male didn't seem to react at all to her words.

"Honda, a little help?" She asked when she noticed her words didn't faze the other up tight teen. It actually only seemed to amuse him.

Honda, who was Joey's friend since childhood days, also decided to protect him by grabbing the brown haired one's arm and asked him if he wanted to be limping to school tomorrow morning.

The reaction that had come from the teen was a smirk and another smack of the suitcase, knocking Honda to the ground.

"Oh, please. Spare me your bickering. He had it coming because he sat on my desk." The male put his suitcase down and took his seat gently while crossing his legs. He wasn't affected by Anzu's words or Honda's threats.

His expression remained calm and unchanged during the entire argument or what would seem more like a beating from Joey and Honda's view.

"OH YEH?" Joey pushed himself up, waving his fist in the man's face, but he didn't seem to care much about Joey's little "threat" either. His green eyes scanned the blonde curiously, wondering exactly when he was going to shut up.

"Just who da hell do ya think ya are?" Joey continued only to receive a sigh as a response.

"The name is Seto. Seto Kaiba to be exact and I don't tolerate others who touch stuff that's mine without permission." SETO KAIBA? The amazing Duel Monsters champion, that Seto Kaiba? Joey was a bit surprised such a famous guy would be in the same class as them. Nevertheless, he was a jerk, so he deserved to be yelled at some more regardless of his status. Joey did respect strong duelists and he knew Kaiba really wasn't 'all talk'. His blue-eyes white dragon was to be feared, especially when they came in numbers. Even if Kaiba was probably the best duelist, Joey couldn't allow him to speak in such a way towards his friends or act like it, either.

A fight seemed to stir before the young boy Joey had called on earlier entered the classroom, only to see everyone yelling at Kaiba.

"Uh…Good morning?" He said smiling politely at all of them in confusion. Sadly, they were too occupied with Kaiba to notice that anyone had even entered class. Anzu was the only one who noticed another person walked into class and greeted him happily.

"Hi Yuugi!" she smiled. "… Don't mind them. They're just… being themselves." She then headed over to the shorter boy to chat. They hadn't seen each other in a long time since Anzu was busy rehearsing for a show her dance class would have in town. She'd invite Yuugi and the rest to come and take a look if she didn't know it took place on a school day, which would be impossible for them all to view. The last thing she wanted was for them to miss their classes, so she kept it to herself hoping that maybe they'd all see her perform some other time.

Yuugi looked around the classroom to see if he could spot Ryo or any of his other friends. He found someone that looked like Ryo in the far back, sitting with one of the more threatening bullies of the school, Marik Ishtar.

Soon Yuugi realized this wasn't Ryo, but it was another boy named Bakura that looked like his friend, only with more spiky and wild hair. The two guys sat next to each other and talked as if they were friends.

Once Yuugi finished gazing around to see if anyone else was present, he settled down in his own seat next to Joey in the far back. Yuugi always sat at that spot every year, so he was confused once he noticed that there was an extra seat next to his. He could have sworn it wasn't there before.

"Is there someone new coming to class today?"

Joey and the rest ceased in their fight with Kaiba to pay attention to Yuugi for a second.

"Oh hey Yug. Nah, I 'aven't heard anythin'… Why?"

Yuugi glanced at the new seat next to him. Maybe it was just his imagination.

"Uh…nothing." He smiled back at Joey.

Kaiba was showing no concern about Joey and Honda's insults. It only seemed silly for the other students how Joey and Honda dared to challenge the most amazing SETO KAIBA to a duel. Even Yuugi found it a little amusing since Kaiba was such a top-notch duelist compared to the rest of them. He admired Kaiba for his dueling strategies, but disliked him for his cold nature. The only person he'd ever seen Kaiba be friendly towards was his little brother, Mokuba. Not only that, but he didn't act that badly towards Yuugi at all. It was mostly because Yuugi also was a very skilled duelist. Much like Joey, Kaiba respected high-ranked duelists, yet he had a very high standard for 'strong' duelists.

Yuugi turned to look at the empty seat again, wondering if this really just was his imagination. Anzu caught him staring at the seat, which made her curious as well. Was a new student really arriving to Domino so suddenly?

Meanwhile, Kaiba only grinned in response to Honda's arguing and silly ridiculous threat attempts. He also couldn't take Joey's challenge seriously since the blonde was out of breath from yelling. During just a small amount of time, Joey had challenged Kaiba to a duel in the middle of class.

"Let it go, guys. This is not the time to argue." Anzu said while she pulled Joey down into his own seat next to Yuugi.

"I'll teach dat rich ass punk who da real mutt is." Joey mumbled under his breath, enough to earn a laugh from Seto as he sat next to Joey. It really couldn't have been worse.

It was easier for conflict between the two the way they were seated.

Anzu took her seat in front of Seto while Honda sat in the middle in front of Joey.

"Dude, calm down. I think Anzu's right. Let's not make any mischief during the first day of school." Joey hummed in agreement with Honda still slightly ticked off at Kaiba's nasty comments. How could someone be so hostile on the first day to a person they barely even knew? Yuugi was still staring at the empty seat next to him at the moment, wondering who the new student could be. Was it a girl or a boy? Was it a strong person or a weak person, friendly, timid, rude or anything alike? It wasn't every day that a new student would just drop by.

Joey noticed his friend's look at the empty seat and tapped him on the shoulder to wake him up from his daydreaming.

"I hope da next kid dat comes to this class won't be half as bad as dat twerp," he whispered to Yuugi as he pointed at Kaiba. Yuugi rolled his eyes at his friend. He really didn't mind who sat next to him, he was just eager to meet the other person and show them around Domino High. From experience with this school, he knew that being alone on the first day would be tough. There were multiple corridors and hallways that looked the same and could confuse one if they hadn't been around for a long time.

Marik and Bakura seemed to be plotting against the person already, because they were laughing and grinning whenever they looked at the empty seat behind them. The new student would have enough problems already just navigating through the maze of halls. They really didn't need Bakura and Marik to complicate the situation any further.

"Poor them…" Yuugi thought, smiling sheepishly.

He wondered if the new student would be a nice person, or maybe he would just be another bully that would join Marik and Bakura's shenanigans. He feared the thought of them gaining even more power in this school.

They were already strong enough as two people. Of course, they didn't always get their way. Ishizu, Marik's older sister, who was also at the school grounds, made sure that as long as she was around, Marik wouldn't hurt anyone THAT bad. It was a soothing thought. If anyone was ever in trouble with Marik, they just had to run to his sister and complain. That way, they'd be free from Marik, but that didn't stop Bakura from torturing the one who dared to go to Ishizu for help. That new student, whether he or she would be a target for bullies or an ally, was a question that would have to go unanswered for the moment.

After a while, the teacher walked in to the room, told everyone to be quiet and sit down. Soon after that, she waved with a swirly hand-motion at the door, which was half-shut. Someone seemed to be standing behind it this whole time.

"It's okay, you can come in now," she said, smiling, while she held up a piece of paper. Her words only seemed to make the other person more nervous or unwilling to enter. The teacher looked a bit worried at first but saw that the individual who was still behind the door wasn't upset at all. He or she had just not expected to be called into class like this.

"_Calm. Don't say anything. Whatever happens, just walk, sit down and shut up. Walk. Sit. Shut up, easy enough, no? All right…"  
_Yuugi and Joey's eyes met out of curiosity.

"Ya think it is dat new student?" Joey asked in whispers so the teacher wouldn't overhear him. Yuugi nodded in silence while smiling. He was eager to make a new friend or enemy, depending on how well the situation went. Whichever it was, he hoped for the best as his eyes now focused on the door.

Once the door opened and the student stepped inside, all their jaws dropped. Joey was probably most shocked of all, his eyes widened in surprise.

The new student had the same hairstyle as Yuugi, aside from the fact that it looked a lot messier and brighter. He had golden bangs that extended across his black hair and down over his face. With sharp, dark, crimson eyes, more fierce looking and intense in contrast to Yuugi's round lavender ones. His figure was also somewhat taller and stronger looking than Yuugi's, but besides that they could pass off as brothers. It didn't help that he wore the same uniform either. Joey stepped up from his seat rashly and pulled Yuugi towards him, trapping his best friend into a headlock.

"Holy shit Yug! It's your long lost twin!" Joey chuckled and pointed at the new student who gave him a death glare from across the room.

"_I didn't even have time to perform the first step of my plan. Never mind, I have a new and better plan. Target acquired, blonde weirdo."_

Yuugi, in surprise, tried to pull Joey's arms off him but he was far too strong for Yuugi to handle on his own. "Enemy," Yuugi thought to himself as soon as Joey had yelled those words out loud. Anzu sunk down in her seat with shame as Joey made a fool out of himself, screaming that sentence out loud to the entire class. Everyone was probably already thinking the same thing, but did he have to emphasize it so much?

Seto smirked happily.

He was proud to see that Joey was doing his dirty work for him by humiliating himself both in front of the new student and the entire class.

The rest of the students looked at Joey in surprise as well as confusion. Some laughed and some just questioned why he bothered to mention such a thing out loud. The teacher shushed Joey and told him to remain in his seat unless he wanted to suffer a punishment.

The new student, though, simply sighed at the looks everyone was giving him after that little outburst. He pushed his golden bangs away from his face, revealing mad crimson eyes. He was definitely annoyed at Joey, or he'd had a very poor night sleeping. Maybe it was both.

"Class, this is Yami Mubarak. He's just arrived from Egypt. He'll be joining us from this day on. So give him a warm welcome," the teacher said with a smile. Yami's surname meant "the blessed" in Arabic, though he surely didn't feel blessed at the moment. The girls already eyed Yami and wondered about what sort of person he was. Some of them whispered and giggled to themselves. Others looked at Yami and winked at him. Sure, he was handsome, but far beyond **that **handsome in his opinion, yet this was a situation he felt himself be very familiar with and it was getting boring very quickly.

_"Damn it. Not here too. Do they come with the package or something? Why do I always seem to encounter these sorts of people?"_

He noticed what they were doing and shook his head in displeasure.

"_Why don't I just tattoo 'not interested' on my forehead,"_ he thought, raising a brow while his eyes shifted to look out the window. It didn't help that he hadn't brushed his hair or fixed his appearance since yesterday night. His look was quite messy and careless, not that he honestly cared what the others would think about him. A first impression wasn't in his list of worries. It was more of a personal preference. He didn't want to go around looking like a disgusting, dusty, ripped up rag the entire day.

However, his alarm didn't go off at the expected time and so he had to run to school, forgetting to clean up before going.

Not a really good start but at least he arrived on time.

The teacher pointed to a seat in the far back where he was told to sit.

"_Oh no. Not with weirdo, doppelganger and company."_ He was thinking back to what the blonde male had done a few seconds ago with the boy that looked like him.

"_I feel sorry for the kid."_ The guy must go through a lot of hell because of his friend's carelessness. He walked by Marik and Bakura giving them another death glare as if he expected them to trip him or anything alike.

He didn't trust the looks they were throwing him when he entered class. They were the only ones not laughing. After all, they were probably planning on doing something themselves. They caught on to Yami's little attempt to warn them and looked away, mumbling something incomprehensible.

Yami looked over at the blonde male and stopped in front of Yuugi's desk with his eyes clearly on Joey. The embarrassed blonde looked up at Yami in return while rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He was about to say something in the form of "Sorry, I messed up." but got cut off in his thoughts by Yami.

"Do you always act like an inept five year old?" The crimson-eyed male said with a grin.

Yami's look didn't give Yuugi the impression he was being mean-spirited, no matter how it was worded. It sounded more like a joke. Joey jumped up out of his seat for what seemed to be the tenth time today and yelled at Yami in response.

"EY! It was a joke!"

"The fact you're in the same class as me is a joke."

Now Yami was clearly insulting. Yuugi regretted thinking he was only joking. It really seemed like Yami was a serious person, after all, and he tolerated as little as Kaiba did. Speaking of Kaiba, he seemed rather amused with the new student.

"I like this guy." Well, now it was established. Joey equals enemy and Kaiba equals ally. Anzu threw a paper-ball backwards that hit Seto straight on the nose. He jerked forward out of surprise.

"You. Don't start any more trouble." Anzu hissed quietly.

"Seems like the mutt will take care of that for me."

The teacher told them to calm down and take their seats. She didn't pay attention to Yami's statement, but let it slide since no more trouble had to emerge at this moment and the lesson needed to start.

Yami took his seat with his golden bangs messily waving about. He was angry about not fixing his hair before going to school. Either this hairstyle looks good, or it fails badly. There didn't seem to be any in-between.

He put his bag on his desk and leaned against the chair with his arms folded across his chest, simply looking straightforward.

Bakura and Marik turned slowly to look at Yami for a short moment and wondered if he was a victim they could pick on. Sure enough, Yami didn't give them that satisfaction.

"Oi-" Yami said to both of them, causing them to jerk forwards, avoiding another glare even though Yami was not looking in their direction at all.

"The board is THAT way," he said, pointing with both his index finger and middle finger together while looking at the board completely expressionless. Marik and Bakura had now officially established that Yami wasn't someone to mess with, at least not YET.

The guy seemed to be surrounded in a negative aura.

"Dat's it, Yug. We're staying away from dat creep." Joey muttered.

Yuugi sighed as he reached out his hand to Yami's. Joey was surprised to see his friend was doing the exact opposite of listening to him.

"NYEH! Yug! What are ya doin'?"

"Hello, I'm Yuugi Muto. Nice to meet you, Yami." He said with a bright smile. Yuugi didn't want to listen to Joey, especially not after what he did to Yami. It was his first day in this school, after all, and Yuugi just wanted Yami to feel at home. Coming from Egypt to Japan must be frightening. At least it was in his mind.

Everything would be different, though Yami didn't seem to think so. He was acting as if he'd been here his entire life without even a single worry in mind.

Yami leaned forwards placing both elbows to rest on the desk while tilting his head sideways just scanning Yuugi with his eyes up and down. Yuugi's arm remained in thin air for a few seconds before Yami chuckled lightly. Yuugi was confused to say the least.

"How cute. You think I care?" Yami scowled, until he turned to face the board again, looking at the notes the teacher was writing down. Yuugi appeared to be a little discouraged. He pulled his hand back slowly in disappointment while he felt Joey's arm tapping on his shoulder yet again.

"Told ya he's an ass." He whispered in slight mockery. Yuugi honestly didn't want to believe it.

He thought Yami was just upset because of Joey's little act. Surely, anyone who was just trying to make a first impression would have their image tainted a little bit if the same had happened to them. It saddened him that Joey was always like this, very free and open-minded. He had a good heart and meant no harm but others could easily take his words the wrong way if they didn't know him like his friends did.

"Must you always be so-… you?" Yuugi smiled. He knew Joey only did this sort of stuff to cheer them all up, or make a funny joke, but he really couldn't be upset at Yami for taking it the wrong way. How was Yami supposed to know Joey was only joking?

He didn't seem like such a bad person, at least not as bad as Joey thought he was. Yuugi kept looking at the crimson-eyed teen in-between the time he took notes.

Yami didn't bother taking any notes but instead found the ceiling to be much more amusing.

"_I shouldn't have said that. It was his idiot friend who did something stupid, not him."_ Yami pondered, sighing while closing his eyes to rest for a few seconds.

Once the teacher turned around to pick up some books and flip through the pages for information, Yuugi leaned closer to Yami. Sure, if the first attempt failed, surely the second must go at least a little better.

"Listen, I'm sorry for what Joey did, he didn't mean any harm, honestly. Joey is just... Joey." Yuugi smiled yet again. Yami turned to look at the younger boy next to him. He did look very similar to Yami besides the fact he didn't have a choker or leather pants on him. Now that he thought about it, it wouldn't hurt if the boy had some leather pants on, in Yami's opinion.

However, he didn't find Yuugi's 'act' amusing to say the least. He just rolled his eyes and returned to look at the board. Yuugi didn't seem like he wanted to take this as a response. At least getting something verbal would be suitable in a situation like this.

"I hope we can get along." Yuugi said while he grabbed Yami's hand to shake it as a sign of friendship. Suddenly Yami's eyes narrowed in anger and he pulled Yuugi off his seat until he fell on the floor. It surprised everyone that he'd managed to do that without even looking at Yuugi, not paying him an ounce of attention. The loud thud was heard across the room.

"Piss off and don't touch me." Yami growled, while he let go of the smaller boy's hand. His eyes were practically blazing with anger, however, mainly directed at himself. Inside his head were words along the lines of,

_"Idiot, idiot, idiot, you should have accepted his apology, IDIOT."_

He only wanted to pull his hand away from Yuugi's, but ended up pulling the boy down as well. How was he supposed to expect the guy to have such a hard grip on his hand? Most people wouldn't even bother to go as far as touching him after he acted so hostile.

Yami placed his hands in his pockets this time, to make sure this incident wouldn't repeat itself. If there was one thing Yami didn't like, it was physical contact with people. Especially people he didn't know well at all; regardless of how cute and friendly they may be, it just didn't feel right.

Yuugi laughed a bit before brushing the dust off his clothes and sat back down in his seat. To Yami's surprise, Yuugi didn't seem upset over the pull even if it was clearly done on purpose. He was confused over why Yuugi was laughing instead of being upset. Don't people usually get mad over this sort of thing? He didn't want to be a jerk, but the words sort of came out without any thought.

He had no reason to be hostile towards Yuugi. No, he didn't want to either, but as soon as Yuugi touched him it just came like a reflex or a very bad habit. To see Yuugi not reply to him in anger was shocking.

"_You have got to be kidding me…what IS this kid? How can't he mind I did that to him? How can he just sit back down calmly without a word?"_

The teacher on the other hand, seemed to mind greatly.

"Yuugi Muto! No more talking back there or it will be detention!" The teacher yelled. She wasn't one to take these things lightly. Yuugi gulped in fear. He never got detention in his entire life. Starting now wouldn't be good. He also knew that Marik and Bakura spent time there.

He'd be in for a very hectic day if he planned on joining them, it would be consumed in endless teasing. The blonde who had witnessed the entire event unfold was getting very impatient with Yami's behavior.

"Fuck, now ya got him in trouble too. Great going there, Yami," Joey whispered.

"He grabbed on to me. It was self defense." Yami replied, smirking.

"**Self defense**? Do ya know how low ya have to sink to claim Yuugi would hurt ya?" Indeed he did. Already from this short time he noticed this Yuugi kid wouldn't hurt anyone. He also, for whatever reason, didn't seem able to get mad easily. Inside Yami's head, he was cursing at himself over and over for being such an ass on the first day of school. Great. He didn't want any enemies, but here they come. Then again, the train was already rolling, so why not blow the whistle?

"So you're his anger container? Ah, now it all makes sense. You two balance each other out perfectly, if that's the case."

"I'll show ya anger! Ya'll feel the fist of the mighty Joey Wheeler!" Joey stood up and made a confident facial expression while waving his fists around aimlessly.

"All I hear is the whining from his big fat mouth!" Yami slammed his fist down on the desk and rose up from his seat like Joey had did. Yuugi just sunk down in his chair slowly of embarrassment from sitting between the two.

First Kaiba, now Yami, could things get any worse? He pulled his jacket over his head and just sat there waiting for their argument to be over. There really wasn't anything he could do to stop them. Whenever he'd open his mouth, it was as if it was a big red button that caused Joey and Yami to lose it. Yuugi just sat down silently, praying for it all to end without anyone breaking their neck or any other body parts. Even the teacher started to get upset at them, threatening to throw them both out of class. Meanwhile, Seto watched the entire event unfold from beginning to end as if it was a movie.

"I like this guy a LOT more now." He was practically doing Seto's work for him. Getting Joey riled up was enjoyable, and now he didn't even have to bother coming up with ways to annoy the blonde. All he'd have to do was talk to Yami and Joey would simply make a fool out of himself. Anzu turned around to flick Seto on the forehead, but earning no reaction from him at all, not that she expected it, but still.

"YOU. TROUBLE."

"I didn't cause anything. I am simply enjoying the show." Anzu hated to admit it but he was right. He could have made things even worse if he opened his mouth, but instead he chose not to, he knew when things got out of hand, and this was unarguably one of those times. However, during recess, it was fair game.

The teacher had to break them up and tell them both to leave the classroom if they couldn't stop their dispute.

Once all classes ended and they were all about to go home, Yuugi stopped Yami in the hall. He really wasn't willing to let Yami get a free pass at what happened in class. He wanted to ask him if he took Joey's joke seriously and if he could possibly forgive his friend.

"Hey Yami!"

"_No, no, no, no. Didn't you get the message? Get away from me!"_

He tried to run away but Yuugi was surprisingly quicker and caught up to him. He was shockingly strong as well for his size. As soon as he grabbed on to Yami's wrist he sure didn't let it go.

"What now?" He sighed at the shorter teen that was looking up at him with big bright lavender eyes.

"I noticed you didn't take any notes during this lesson. I wrote some of the most important ones down for you-" Yuugi pulled up a piece of paper from his book and held it out to Yami.

"-And sorry for Joey. He can be wild sometimes," Yuugi said, smiling once more at him as if that would change Yami's behavior. Yami felt horrible for what he did earlier to Yuugi but he didn't want the little one to spend time with him here at all, especially not after what happened today. He would much rather be by himself since time in Japan was limited.

"_He probably already hates me. Come on, I insulted one of his friends and basically hurt him on purpose. I might as well continue being an ass. He'll give up sometime. They all do, eventually."_ This was what he was thinking at the moment. Sure. Being mean was the easy way out. That's what he learned when he did this in Egypt. Acting up was always going to drive people away… or so he thought.

"No. I don't want your stupid notes." Yami mumbled back at Yuugi. Though Yuugi didn't even seem to be saddened by those words. In fact, it only seemed to make him giggle.

"Ah…so you know where your next class is tomorrow?"

Yami gave him a skeptical look, quickly followed up by a worried look of confusion. Oh, was THAT what he was supposed to take notes for? The classes they had tomorrow? One might have just forgotten to do so.

"…_Don't tell me he knew I was stupid enough not take notes. That's just creepy… and extremely nice. Ugh, come on kid! Leave me alone. COOPERATE!"_

While Yami was occupied thinking, lavender eyes stared at him waiting for an answer. He had to say SOMETHING. One word could explain so much.

"**No**?" he questionably asked the younger one which seemed to burst out in laughter. It just occurred to him that they never received their schedules. Yuugi put the piece of paper he was holding in Yami's bag and told him that it was a guide for tomorrow's lessons.

They were a little late giving out the week schedule so that's why they told everyone where they needed to be tomorrow.

Something Yami should pay more attention too in general, the teachers.

He nodded at the shorter boy, trying to get out of this conversation as soon as possible and run back home. Yuugi didn't seem let him go, though.

Yami made an excuse that it takes him some time to walk home from school and that he needed to be home quick. As soon as Yuugi heard where Yami's home was located, he smiled.

"My grandpa's game shop is so close to that. Right near the Domino Park, right?" Yami cursed in his head. He should never have said where he actually lived.

"We can walk home together." Yuugi's smile only seemed to get brighter and that scared Yami to death. Yuugi honestly wanted to become friends since he believed there might be a softer side underneath. He also thought that hanging around his 'other half' would be fun. Yami, on the other hand, didn't like the idea at all. He couldn't understand why Yuugi was still trying to become friends with him. Hadn't he shown enough hate already? What was there this kid didn't seem to get that everyone else caught on to pretty quickly?

"_No. Not after what I've said, not after what I've done. How can you still try to become friends with me?"_

"Don't bother." Yami mumbled back at him in response.

"Give me a good reason not to."

Yami thought this one through before answering. He'd just wanted to yell at the boy-

"_Because I almost freaking cracked your skull open a minute ago, give me a good reason NOT to go home alone!"_

He was clearly over-dramatizing the scenario but nevertheless, he didn't want Yuugi to follow him along. Inside his head were several voices. A part of him just wanted to tell this Yuugi kid to back off and not bother him anymore, while another voice really wanted to be friends with the entire crew. He wanted to get along with Joey as well, if Joey actually managed to apologize for what he'd done. Yami listened to the voice that yelled the strongest. And that voice was…

"Didn't I already tell you to piss off? Or wasn't that act in class a clue enough?" definitely not the voice of reason. Mentally punching himself, he soon regretted his words. Not here, not now. This was something that was acceptable when the person would react like Joey did, but not Yuugi.

Yuugi would just smile and get back up on his feet happier than ever. Never had he seen this sort of person. Beating Joey up and being mean to him was less problematic because Joey himself was being a jerk. Yuugi was only trying to be friendly. That was why Yami had to get away from him, pronto. Once the hate wasn't mutual, it sort of killed the tactic.

_"Please… Just, for your own sake. Can't you hear it? Aren't you mad? What's wrong with you?"_

"I thought it was only an accident…" Yuugi had made up an excuse.

Even a blind man in Spain could see that what Yami did in class was obviously no accident.

"It's only a walk home. I won't stab you or anything like that. You have nothing I want." Yuugi laughed nervously, trying to keep his cool, but feeling that the air around them was getting slightly more uncomfortable by the minute.

Jokes were useless and to no help at all. It was harder to try and 'lighten up the mood' as Yami's facial expression didn't seem to change at all during the conversation. Yami thought for a second. A tactic. A sure bulletproof way of getting rid of this kid once and for all. What would he lose?

"_If this won't get the kid off my back, then I don't know what will."_ He knew he'd regret saying it, especially to such a nice guy, but did he really need people following him around in Japan? Considering he seemed to be thinking, he wouldn't spend much time here anyways. Why bother at all with anything? He took a deep breath before uttering.

"I don't care for you, so get lost before you regret it."

Yuugi seemed to be more persistent than Yami first thought. Yuugi did look slightly hurt from those words, but he didn't mind them too much since he told himself Yami was only using them as a defensive wall. For whatever reason, he knew Yami didn't want any friends. He honestly didn't believe Yami would hurt him if he just followed along or asked him questions. Yami wasn't a bully, that's for sure, because Yuugi could recognize those kinds of people from a mile away. It seemed as if what Yami was doing was equally as silly as what Honda and Joey had been doing to Kaiba the previous lesson. Throwing useless, empty threats.

"Why can't we just walk home? Will it kill you?" Yami thought for a good microsecond or two. _"Yes!"_ was a strong voice inside his head.

Being beside this boy while he had uttered such horrible things at him would just drive him nuts. Then again, he had no one to blame for these words but himself. He honestly thought Yuugi would just give up at this point, but the boy seemed more stubborn than what Yami was.

He gave up eventually, because he saw that Yuugi wasn't going to give in until he got what he wanted, also he had no good reply back that wasn't in the form of an insult.

Throwing insults would only make the way home more uncomfortable, once that was established, Yami could give in.

"Fine, I'll wait for you outside the school gate. I'll be there for 10 minutes. If you're not there by then, I'll go by myself," he said, turning around.

"I'll be there." Yuugi shouted, and waved at Yami with a smile. Yami managed to 'feel' Yuugi's smile through the massive crowd, even if he wasn't looking back.

It astonished him that the boy was still surprisingly happy after all those comments.

"_How the HELL can he STILL try to befriend me after everything I've said?"_ Yami was humming a familiar tune to himself out of boredom while walking outside.

Once he reached the school's gate where he'd wait for Yuugi. He turned to look at the big clock, and counted down the minutes it took for Yuugi to arrive. Each second seemed to drive him crazy waiting. It was as if a bullet was about to fire around 10 minutes at full speed and he had no way to avoid it.

He thought he could apologize to Yuugi on the way home at least to clear things up, but would he manage to do that even if they were alone in private?

"_Can someone just shoot me for real and put me out of my misery?"_ He looked back up at the clock again. 7 minutes. Time seemed to move so much slower.

Yuugi had opened his locker and put the books in while in a hurry to get back to Yami. The look-a-like clone of Yuugi seemed negotiable when he was alone.

"He's not that bad. He's probably still mad about Joey's joke…" Yuugi thought. He then looked at his books sadly and flipped through a couple of pages to find the notes he was supposed to bring with him.

"He's got no one here… He knows no one. It must be terrible being alone all the time. I hope he becomes a new friend in our friendship circle." He giggled a bit at the name Anzu had given their group. It was a long time back in the past when she would draw a happy face on all of their hands. The ink didn't wash off that easily now that he remembered it. He could almost see it on his hand to this very day.

The bond they shared was sacred and could never be broken. On that note, he shut his locker and turned around. Time wasn't something he could waste right now. He wished he could explain that to Ushio, who he had just bumped into. Yuugi gulped in fear as he stepped back slowly avoiding Ushio's stare. Ushio was heavy built and probably three times as big as Yuugi was.

His muscles were visible through his school uniform and his stare could even send Marik running away while shivering full of fear. He was the worst bully among all on school. Not even Bakura dared to go near him and Bakura was considered one of the worst bullies. "S-sorry Ushio." Yuugi waved nervously at him while he tried to step aside quietly.

It was far too late.

Ushio didn't like when people got away from him unpunished. He thought it would show that he'd gone soft on his victims and didn't have his 'touch' like back in the old days. Would anyone fear him if they heard a little kid escaped him without a bruise or two?

He couldn't allow that to happen. Not a single doubt would be flying around the school when they were talking about Ushio.

All the man wanted to hear from them was fear. Speaking of fear, he wanted to scare someone right this very moment. Unfortunately for Yuugi, HE was the closest victim.

"Where do you think YOU'RE going?" Ushio laughed evilly while he grabbed Yuugi's golden bangs.

"U-Ushio! No!" Yuugi stuttered. He tried to push himself away but it only brought more pain, as Ushio's grip around his hair was super tight. He had no intention of letting go.

"What's the problem YUUGI?" Ushio taunted him with a wide grin. Ushio pulled Yuugi's bangs until he almost got lifted off the floor by the grip. "Could you not have found a more suitable time for torture?" Yuugi mumbled under his breath while he tried to reach for the floor. How Ushio could pull someone up this lightly was beyond his comprehension. All he cared about was how to get out of this and hurry back to Yami. How would he ever arrive on time if Ushio decided to smack him around?

"Such a weakling. You're so fun to pick on, you know that?" Ushio laughed as he let Yuugi go and punched him in the gut instead. Yuugi dropped down on his knees because of the impact. Ushio then kicked him in the head several times until Yuugi fell on his back with his nose bleeding badly from the kicks.

"Ugh…" He wanted to brush his bangs away from his face so he could see again only to have his entire hand covered in hot blood as well as his bangs. Usually, Ushio wouldn't get lucky enough to kick him until he started bleeding, but once the blood gushed out, it wasn't easy to stop it. He was wondering why no one bothered to come check by these lockers in a time like this. Of course… They were all probably home. Just his everyday luck and struggle. Joey had taught him to defend himself when someone would step on him during the years they were friends, but even then it was hard. Yuugi's body wasn't made to battle. He could handle someone his own size and also someone Joey's size, but he didn't stand a chance against someone like Ushio. Not even Joey could stand up against the malicious bully.

"HAHA! You're not even resisting! Useless piece of shit! Just pathetic!" Ushio was said to love tormenting people smaller than him because it brought him satisfaction. Yuugi was an easy target for bullies since his grandpa always taught him not to hit others. Something Joey had to smack right out of his head if he wanted Yuugi to survive this school's horrible bullies.

Yuugi was trying to position himself so he could push his body back up and run away, but it all failed when the pain in his gut came back and the blood ran down his face as it left stains on his uniform. There no possibility he could fight his way out of this, so the only option was to use verbal communication.

"Why are you doing this…U-Ushio," Yuugi stuttered, still trying to pull himself back up regardless of how dizzy he felt. Did he expect to get sympathy from HIM? USHIO? No way. Ushio was as cold hearted as a blizzard in Antarctica.

He couldn't care less if he killed Yuugi, which he was probably going to do if the bully landed more hits like this.

Ushio pulled him up by his hair again and punched him in the face causing Yuugi to cough up some of the blood running down his nose.

The teen couldn't resist or even try. He knew from earlier beatings that Ushio would only punch harder and step on him if he even tried to fight back. Was there any other option, though? Fighting back, or talking back was all equally as futile. There was no chance his small body could even compare to Ushio's.

"Please…Stop…" Yuugi cried. He hated the fact he could be so useless in situations like these. He also hated how the only option now was to beg. "Pathetic," the raven-haired man tossed Yuugi across the room. Yuugi's head collided with the wall causing him to scream out in pain. He tried to pull himself up but couldn't seem to see clearly. His vision got blurrier and the bully was getting more violent with each passing second. Soon, a voice emerged from a distance.

"You let him go, or I'll deal with you myself!" the voice was rather feminine and confident. The smaller child recognized right away who it was that came to his rescue and smiled.

Anzu.

Typical she'd always find him in the most embarrassing situations. Ushio looked up for a second, away from his prey, only to find a brown haired woman ready to slap him across the face if needed.

"Seems like your 'girlfriend' needs to protect you, you little crybaby." Ushio laughed and let Yuugi go before he vanished down the corridor. Even the most callous bully wouldn't sink so low as to hit a girl.

Anzu had stopped Ushio's little rampage for now, luckily.

She hurried and ran up to Yuugi yelling out his name in concern.

"Yuugi! Can you hear me? Are you all right?" Yuugi nodded at Anzu while he sat up straight. Anzu quickly unlocked her own locker and pulled out a bunch of tissues from her bag. She leaned down to Yuugi and wiped the bloodstains away from his face and uniform.

"What a horrible prick. I'll teach him a lesson about bullying," she said, while she continued to brush away the blood on Yuugi's face a bit harshly since she was so worried.

"It's all right Anzu. I'm fine…" He took the tissues from her and helped himself clean up the mess Ushio had made. Anzu checked to make sure he wasn't hurt badly anywhere else. She noticed a few cuts and bruises but nothing very dangerous. It's not like Ushio cracked his skull open.

"Are you dizzy?" Anzu asked as she was still scanning his head for damage.

"Uhm…" He was embarrassed to admit it but he still couldn't stand up. The blood hadn't stopped either, it just continued. A blow to the head, no matter how soft it may be would always leave him a bit light-headed. Ushio didn't just give him a punch in the head but tossed him into a wall, it was hard to stand up from such an impact. He felt as if he was going to pass out right there in the hallway. This feeling was something he hated, the feeling of being alone without anyone to help. If Anzu hadn't been there for him, who knows how far Ushio would have taken this? Suddenly, Honda walked down the hall and noticed Anzu and Yuugi sitting down next to the lockers. As soon as he noticed the bloodstains, he rushed over to take a look at what happened. Anzu didn't even have to explain anything for Honda to understand.

"That's it! Me and Joey are gonna KILL this son of a-"

"Don't!" Yuugi yelled.

"… Just kill him, a little bit. Ya know, maybe cut his hand off. Come on man… It's not fair." Anzu nodded in agreement with Honda. It wasn't fair.

"Honda, stay here with him while I go get some more tissues." and with that said, Anzu rushed off to the bathroom, leaving Honda and Yuugi alone.

"Kh… Yuugi, are you-"

"I'm fine!" He tried to say as confidently as possible with all the tissues pressed against his nose. Though there was no way he could say that sentence without sounding slightly muted and high-pitched. That immediately made it lose the 'confident' sound Yuugi had tried to put into it. He was regaining his cool. The bleeding was slowing down and his fear was vanishing. Honda sat down next to Yuugi and patted him on the back. It wasn't long before Yuugi could hear a small amount of snickering.

"…You do know you look absolutely hilarious with all those tissues in your face, right?" Honda said trying to contain some of his laughter.

"Hilarious? I'd like to say I look FABULOUS with all of this in my face." Yuugi joked and ruffled the huge amount of tissues that covered up his entire face.

"You SOUND fabulous too, Pegasus would be jealous."

"Haha, very funny."

There was really no way even this sort of situation could bring Yuugi down. Sure, the beating had been rough, but it was over. As long as he knew he had his friends, he'd always smile. Anzu came back with a bunch of new tissues at last. Once Yuugi removed the old ones, Honda wasn't smiling or laughing anymore. When he noticed how bad the beating actually was, he could freak out again.

"That's it! We're killing him! JOEY! Get your army!" Honda quickly rushed away from the scene and screamed out Joey's name several times while punching the air.

"Joey has an army?" Anzu raised her brows curiously.

"If you count a duel-deck as an army, yes he has one." After a few minutes Yuugi's bleeding had stopped completely. The brunette made sure to stay next to him the entire time. She knew he'd get easily dizzy from practically any hit to the head, so letting him sit down was the best option.

"Can you stand up?" Yuugi tried. He wobbled a bit before regained his stance.

"Yep. A bit sore still, but this honestly wasn't as bad as last time's beating was." Anzu hugged Yuugi and suggested they walk home together, just in case Ushio tries something else. This reminded Yuugi.

"NO! Yami is waiting! I completely forgot!" Yuugi gathered all of his stuff quickly before hurrying off with Anzu right behind him, running towards the exit. He stumbled every now and then, still woozy from the beating, but he just couldn't let Yami wait like that. He'd made a promise to meet up with him. It was a promise he had to keep, regardless of what happened.

Meanwhile about 30 minutes had passed and Yami was still waiting for Yuugi impatiently.

"_I guess he just wanted you to stand here and wait like an idiot."_ A voice whispered in Yami's head while another wanted to shut that voice up. That voice was the reason Yami was even standing here to begin with. However, Yuugi was late. That was without a doubt true. Why he was late was a completely different question.

The odds weren't exactly in Yami's favor, so to speak. It was more likely that Yuugi left him to wait there as some sort of prank. Yet, he didn't know the younger boy well enough to reach a different conclusion. He couldn't judge him at all for he didn't know him. That's why his conclusion was wrong and he failed to see it himself.

"_I give up. Nothing has changed. Different country. Same faces. I'm an idiot for thinking he actually was serious…Then again, I would do the same thing in his shoes."_ He walked away and headed straight for the park. Another voice in his head echoed loudly, a sad truth. _"You have yourself to blame."_

Yami used to take a shortcut through the park to get to his house, but this time he stayed in the park. He wanted to be alone, away from all social life. People were rarely walking around in the park at this time. It was mainly full of little children playing on the swings or at the playground. Near the swings, he could hear a few young kids talking about his favorite game, Duel Monsters. He wanted to approach them and brag a little bit. He was, after all, the champion in Egypt. He could teach them a thing or two. One wouldn't know if he would teach them out of kindness, or to show off for once in his life. This game wasn't played as often in Egypt, nor was it that popular. Coming to this foreign country was a happy event for him since practically EVERYONE played the game here. Duel Monsters was originally from Japan, so it was obvious it would be played more frequently here.

The park was very soothing and quiet apart from the playground. That was, unless it was nighttime. At night, this park got crowded with the wrong types of people. The sort you usually don't want to encounter, even on a sunny day. Yami wanted to get away from Atem and all of the phone calls his parents had made the first day they arrived in Japan. They were all worried if Atem and Yami were safe and sound. Why wouldn't they? It was their father's plane, after all.

Yami was currently sitting under a big tree while doodling in his notebook. When he flipped a page over, a note suddenly dropped out of the book and landed on the grass. It was the piece of paper Yuugi had handed him earlier today. He thought about why Yuugi had even tried helping him. It just didn't make sense. He remembered Yuugi's words clearly and that smile of his that Yami just couldn't seem to erase from his memory.

"_Adorable, humble and friendly… So why the HELL bother being friends with ME?" _He shook his head and grabbed the piece of paper angrily.

"I'll be there, he said. Tsk. Why do I still think about it?" He wanted to throw the note away but knew that he needed it. Throw it away. Just throw it away. It was a symbol that Yuugi cared, and that ticked the crimson-eyed teen off greatly. It would have been better if the younger kid didn't, in fact, care. It would make things so much easier on Yami.

Then again, he COULD probably throw it away if he remembered what was written on it. He grabbed the note tighter and unfolded it to see a wall of text and small drawings. This wasn't just some minor scribble Yuugi took during class. This was basically an entire schedule saying where he should be at what times and what books he needed to prepare. It explained what teachers held the lessons, and it also went to describe all rooms including corridors in the school. It was essentially a mini map in letters with tiny drawings. Yami just sat there, reading the schedule over and over again, time after time. He tried to understand WHY the note just didn't say 'Tomorrow, biology, English, etc."

They receive the same schedules almost every year with a few minor changes if needed, but… This was not necessary. Was it?

"He…Wait- what?" Yami took a closer look at the halls and classroom numbers. He recognized the history class as well as the math class, being that they were all accurately placed on the map. He assumed the rest was probably right, too. Had Yuugi really taken the time to write down all of this just for him?

Yami felt bad about leaving school now or even thinking Yuugi could have done something like this on purpose, just to leave him in the cold.

"This guy is far too nice for his own good..." Yami sighed.

"_I wish my stubbornness wouldn't prevent me from apologizing..."_

He took another look at the paper. There was a small note at the bottom saying the following: "let's both prank Joey once he's alone and give him a taste of his own medicine," with a doodle of something that looked like Yuugi giving him a thumb's up. It took some time for Yami to comprehend what the doodle was supposed to resemble, but once he saw it he laughed out loud pulling the paper closer to his chest. He lied down on the grass just snickering at the doodle Yuugi had made on the piece of paper.

"Oh good gods… His drawings are horrible." He tried to contain his laughter, but it would just return whenever he took a look at the note. A silence suddenly fell and his smile was gone. Yuugi wouldn't do such a thing to trick him. Then, why did he never show up? Yami folded the piece of paper together and put it back in his book, pushing himself back up and just wondering for a bit. He thought back at what Joey said earlier to him and how Yuugi reacted. Joey seemed to be more upset about this than Yuugi. Of course, if Yuugi were his friend, he wouldn't want his friend to get hurt. Could Joey have stopped him from coming along?

Yami smiled to himself. The blonde was only making a joke. It was silly to get upset over something like that. Would he only be making things worse by trying to say 'sorry'? It wasn't a word Yami ever used. During his entire life, he had never truly been sorry for almost anything. If Yuugi had flipped out and yelled at him, he would have regretted nothing, yet the kid only smiled.

"…So this is the feeling… The feeling of **guilt**?" He never experienced it before. All he had was regret, nothing like guilt at all. This feeling seemed to sit in quite tightly and not let go. Slowly suffocating one until they'd give in and try to make amends.

Suddenly, he heard voices in the distance overlapping his silent mumbling. He leaned to the side of the bushes and saw a grumpy guy that seemed as if he was from Domino High, judging by his uniform. The man had a big body and was covered in some bloodstains.

"Blood?" Yami leaned even closer to the bushes to peek at the brutes. He had shifted to a, as he would call it, facedown-defense card position, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. The man was standing and chatting with another fellow who wore sunglasses and had a beard. They were probably 'pals' of some sort. The other guy, though, didn't have the same uniform as him, so he expected he was from another school. These people did really look like the ones you wouldn't want to meet on a sunny day. He questioned what they were doing in the park at this time of the day. Their conversation didn't seem friendlier than what they looked like.

"Yeah, you should have seen the guy squirm. It was phenomenal." The man from domino laughed out loud while patting his friend's shoulder. It was almost as if he was hitting him by the sounds of the 'pats'.

"Heh. Who was this runt anyways, Ushio?" The other guy pulled up a cigarette and asked Ushio, who held the lighter, to light it up. Yami wasn't concerned about their little conversation. As soon as the talk was about something this pointless and violent, he just seemed to ignore more than provoke. Blood, violence, AND fire was definitely a bad mix. They seemed to be bad guys, but nothing important to pay attention to at all. That was, up until one of them had mentioned a name.

"His name is Yuugi Muto, I think. MAN, he was a lot of fun to beat the shit out of. His blood came gushing out like there was no tomorrow, just by four or five kicks to the face. HAHA!"

Yami suddenly sat there paralyzed in both anger and fear after he heard what they said. Had this 'Ushio' guy beat Yuugi up till the point he had been bleeding? Was the blood on his uniform Yuugi's?

He leaned down closer to the two men. The big tree shielded him from view. Yami was wondering if his mind was playing tricks on him. Sure enough, he heard Yuugi's name being mentioned again and simply couldn't believe it.

"_You guys did WHAT to Yuugi?"_ His appearance had changed drastically from just hearing that one line. He wasn't calm anymore, but instead was fumingly angry as well as riled up. Yami practically wanted to set both of them on fire for thinking about hurting someone, especially a person who wouldn't do anything to harm them. What could cause these guys to joke about hurting an innocent kid while also taking pride in it? Nevertheless, a kid about 3 times smaller than they were. What POSSIBLE threat could Yuugi have to them?

"OH, MAN! I wish I were there to see it. Would have been a fucking awesome show." Ushio lit the man's cigarette. The guy tasted it before he inhaled and blew out dark smoke. Ushio then proceeded to throw the lighter away into the bushes.

"Useless lighter, it doesn't even work half the time." He muttered grumpily.

Yami couldn't stand to hear more of their yapping. How could he EVER think Yuugi would do something like this on purpose? There were no words for how badly he wanted to punish the both of them.

Yami curiously looked over at the bushes and saw the lighter, which Ushio had thrown, sticking out. Without a doubt, he crawled over to the bush and picked it up, holding it with his thumb and index finger. He then opened the lid and tried it out. Sure, the flame wasn't huge, but the lighter still seemed to work pretty decently. A small flame could still start a huge fire. That reminded him of something he thought about just seconds ago…

Grinning to himself, he stepped in front of the guys with the lighter in one hand and the other in his pocket.

"Oi. You two." Yami emerged from the shadows of the forest. His crimson eyes seem to glow in the dark, though it didn't scare the bullies a bit.

"Oh! Is this the guy you were talking about, Ushio? Fits your description pretty well. Shitty, spiky hair and thick ass mascara." The man laughed while he took another blow at his cigarette. Ushio had a confused look on his face. This guy resembled Yuugi by the school uniform and hair, but appeared to be a completely different person. He looked more mature and confident, not to mention his voice was also a lot lower. Yuugi would never approach them in that sort of manner. Yami chuckled at their stupidity. They had no idea what was about to happen.

"So you enjoy playing games with other peoples lives, eh?" Yami held the lighter in his hand. He flipped the lid down and threw the lighter in the air a few times, his eyes still locked on Ushio and the other buff man. The disgusting smell of smoke filled the air before Yami threw in the final line. "Then let me introduce you guys to my **penalty game**." He grabbed the lighter firmly and with those words said, he was going to regret NOTHING of what was about to happen.

* * *

Meanwhile, Atem was home watching TV, waiting for the phone to ring. It was as if all he did everyday, since their arrival in Japan, was look at the phone and wait for a call. Yami had been awfully late, and Atem expected him home much sooner. He felt uncomfortable in this country. It was like he was completely isolated from everything and everyone, except for his parents. The commercials and programs didn't make much sense unless they were in English. Even then, it was hard to understand everything, since English isn't his native language. How his little brother was coping with this was beyond his understanding. Yami studied English in Egypt, but he never thought Yami could use it this easily. The language barrier appeared somewhat broken, and he could practically talk to anyone in the new school. In Atem's opinion, his little brother was a lucky bastard. They found him an English school he could attend, where all teachers spoke English instead of Japanese.

Atem sighed and leaned against the couch. It was around 17.35, and Yami was nowhere to be found. Does he plan to stay out all night? He never ever did this in Egypt. If anything, Yami was the one who was expected to come home early. He never went out to parties or with friends, and preferred to stay at home alone. Why was it that he was late this evening when he should have been home about two hours ago?

Suddenly, the door shot open, and in came a very out of breath teen with his jacket across his shoulder. His hair was full of leaves and his skin was tainted with dirt. The teen, which appeared to be Yami, turned around and pushed the door closed before falling down onto his knees.

"What the HELL happened to you?" Atem asked in shock as he jumped in fear to the dramatic entrance. Yami simply smirked.

"Best day of my life, EVER." he said, while placing his jacket down on the ground, still panting. One couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or sincere. Atem rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure…" He muttered to himself, obviously displeased.

"Now, call mom and dad?" Atem looked up at his brother with the phone in his hands.

"It's not even been a day, and you're already squirming for help?" Atem got rather annoyed with his younger brother once he heard those words. It seemed like they were going to repeat the dispute they had yesterday all over again, only for it to end the same way.

"Yami! I don't understand anything! The language is full of weird signs that I can't comprehend! Why can't we just go back to Egypt? One word from you would allow us to do that!" Yami stood up and shifted his weight from one foot to the other in a playful way.

"Take a good look at my jacket, now at my hair, then at my skin, and back at me." Yami said, pointing up and down with his index finger at himself. Atem scanned his brother from top to toe, following his brother's finger. Messy hair filled with leaves, clothes completely filthy, small cuts here and there, and possibly little bruises on his arm as well as neck. What point was he trying to make?

"Yes?" The tanned male asked, unable to understand Yami's reasoning.

"THIS is the result of having too much fun to hear your complaining." Yami grinned and ran straight into the kitchen to grab a Popsicle. Clearly the scene from yesterday was now repeating itself, unarguably. How on earth Yami managed to ignore the injuries and have a Popsicle was stunning. It's like this happened all the time and he just didn't bother to care.

Atem gave up and threw himself facedown on the couch, completely exhausted.

"Jetlag is a biiiiiiiiiiiiiitch." He mumbled into the pillow.

Yami walked up to him with the Popsicle in his mouth, patting his brother on the head lightly.

"I know. Sucks when you don't get it your way for once." His voice was a bit muted because of the Popsicle. Yami then walked past him and headed up to his own room. Atem had no idea what his little brother meant but decided not to question it. They could both be jerks at times. That much was understood.

All the books Yami gathered during the day were thrown onto his desk carelessly, along with his school bag. He picked up the note Yuugi handed him from his pocket in slight disappointment.

"So that bastard decided to beat Yuugi up?" He sat down in his chair, leaning on the desk, while slowly sucking on the Popsicle. Was there a reason for the beating? He didn't even have to think for that answer. No, of course there was not. Yuugi wouldn't harm anyone, and that much was obvious.

"Ushio is such a pathetic piece of garbage." He bit the Popsicle and chewed down a few pieces before he leaned his head on one of his hands.

"At least his hair burns quick as hell." Laughter filled the quiet room.

No one was around to see them, hopefully. One quick throw of the lighter across Ushio's head lit it on fire as if it was easily flammable. Even the smallest flame could be useful. He never expected it to catch fire THAT quickly. The other man, though, wasn't as amused as Yami, and started chasing him. Yami had to go through dirt and what not to manage an escape. The man had caught him once, strangled and punched him in the face. Lucky shot, in Yami's opinion. Good thing he had a huge advantage by running faster than the two bullies.

Bored into oblivion, Yami looked through the note several times before he decided to doze off on his desk. He woke up after some time to throw his clothes into the washing machine and slip into his pajamas.

He quickly positioned himself back into his chair where he read Yuugi's note clearly, over and over again, chuckling when he reached his doodle. He needed to keep all that memorized. At least, that was, if he wanted to throw the note away.

_"…I don't want to… but I don't think I've earned to be friends with any of them. I might as well forget them completely."_

Soon, he fell asleep on the spot. Who knew running around and setting people's hair on fire could be such a tiring job?

Atem arrived in Yami's room later on around midnight, finding him passed out in his chair with a bunch of random books.

He carried his younger brother over to bed and laid him down to rest. The tanned male was a bit worried since his younger brother hadn't eaten anything almost the entire day, except sweets, but he couldn't wake him up now. Yami's expression changed drastically while he was asleep. Then again, his brother seemed to show a various amount of expressions when he really wanted to, though the one he had while sleeping wasn't really optional. He looked just like a little innocent kid, without a single care in the world. Once he would open his mouth though… that magic was gone.

"It's so annoying how you can be a jerk at times, but at others you're just too damn adorable." Usually these kinds of situations were rare. They never slept in the same room, or even in the same part of their home. Seeing Yami like this was a nice surprise, since they never got to spend too much time together. Atem placed a blanket over his brother and decided to go sleep as well. Who knew what would happen tomorrow? It was all still a big question whether or not they would stay here for long. No calls and absolutely no messages. At least things could only get better from now on, right?

* * *

The next morning, though, didn't seem to get brighter than the previous. It was as if history repeated itself. Joey was bickering with Kaiba, and Anzu was talking to Honda, same old story. Suddenly, Yami stepped into the room and it went dead silent. At least he was completely dressed up this time and didn't look as messy as he was on the first day, though he did not have his uniform on today. He had to walk to school in regular clothes since he ruined his school uniform from yesterday's chase, which he was honestly really proud of. Joey turned to look at Kaiba. Surprise struck him when he noticed Kaiba was grinning with his eyes fixed on Yami.

"Why don't you sit next to me this time, Yami?" Kaiba said and patted Joey's seat. As amusing it was to Yami to see Kaiba on his side, he really didn't want to start any fights again this time by just walking into class.

"_Do people usually talk to others that don't seem to want and talk to them? What's wrong with people here? Also, why do I seem to start a bloody riot whenever I just walk into class?"_

Joey yelled at Kaiba claiming it was HIS seat and his seat alone. Kaiba of course came prepared with arguments against Joey. He of all people knew how to counter someone and leave them speechless without a shred of doubt.

"Are you sure, mutt? Last time I checked, you claimed my seat to be your own. Maybe someone should teach you a lesson of what it feels like to have your possessions stolen from you." Kaiba was grinning evermore than before. Joey jumped on his back and attempted to pull his friend down on the floor to wrestle, but Kaiba was far too strong to get pushed over so easily. Instead, he pulled Joey off himself and pinned the blonde down to the ground, ready to take Joey up on his challenge. Yami sighed.

Could they stop getting HIM involved in all their little disputes?

Crystal clear blue eyes slowly gazed over at Yami in curiosity.

"Don't worry, they won't bother you today. I'll make sure of that."

Yami rolled his eyes at Anzu. He couldn't care less about them. What he did care about, though, was Yuugi, and if he was all right after last day's scenario. He felt sorry for the kid. Getting hit so absolutely brutally and mercilessly was something he couldn't imagine. Would Yuugi even be fit for school today? If so, how badly did Ushio's little act harm him? Honda suddenly woke Yami up from his daydreaming.

"Hey, man, it's alright if you don't like Joey. He's not with us, anyways." Obviously, this was a joke. Joey, though, snapped at Honda and decided to pick on him instead. Kaiba didn't seem to mind, their little wrestling game had to end, anyways. How could Joey not see that it was a joke? Even Yami could see that what Honda truly meant.

"This entire school is full of foolish clowns." Yami muttered, tiresome, while a voice in the back of his head wished that he could also join them and be a foolish clown. Their friendship really was… something.

"Finally, someone understands!" Seto raised his arms up to the roof, stretching from the fight with Joey.

Yami sat down in the same spot as yesterday and waited for Yuugi to arrive so he could apologize to him and then to his friends once and for all. He just wanted to punch himself for still acting badly towards them. Yami really didn't want to act hostile anymore, but he felt as if they would all wonder why his personality changed if he replied differently. It was complicated, to say the least. One simply didn't understand how to handle these people that some called "friends".

Instead of giving this topic more thought, he took a look out the window and was frightened when he saw his own reflection in the glass. He had a very visible bruise on his neck somewhere right below the ear. The guy in the park must have caused that minor injury. He pulled his choker up to cover the black mark, because it looked dreadful. Handling bullies with his own fists was a bit of a dilemma, so running was the best option. Yami was not stronger than Yuugi, despite their physical differences. Someone at his height couldn't possibly beat up two full-grown men. Especially not without something like, oh, I don't know, a mallet? Perhaps a flamethrower would work? Maybe something that could generate a huge amount of electricity and send out lightning bolts?

_"Hm… Dynamite! With my money, I could probably set them on an island and blow them to pieces. Wait, even better, I'll nuke them. Would it be considered public service or murder if I got rid of the pests?"_

Anzu whispered something in Joeys ear and sent him off to Yami in a hurry. "No way," Joey answered back, but was still pushed forward by the stubborn female. He stepped closer to Yami and twiddled his thumbs in a circle-motion, while looking away from the spiky-haired teen. Yami looked up at him questionably, waiting for the blonde to open his mouth and start a dispute.

"_Here we go…"_

"So uh…" He started blushing lightly.

"Some things were said yesta'day and… I just wanna say I'm sorry, 'k?" Joey managed to utter, even if he honestly didn't like apologizing for something that was clearly a joke, and nevertheless the truth.

This wasn't a person who was used to apologizing to strangers. This was Joey. Yami, on the other hand, knew an apology when he heard it. This felt more like mockery instead of a full downright apology. How would they have reacted if he apologized in the same way? Anzu could feel that Joey's comment didn't turn Yami's foul mood around. She regretted sending him off without knowing what to exactly apologize for. He probably didn't know what ticked Yami off so much, just like now.

"Oh, cry me a river." Yami's reply seemed like enough of a response to send Joey over the edge again. The blonde started waving his arms around, screaming. Yami was sulking for a brief moment. How could he be so stupid as to make them even angrier? Whatever he wanted to say wasn't really coming out.

"_I'm not going to be here for long anyways, so why care?"_ Why care about others when he's just here for a short amount of time? Oh, right, because he was human. It would be impossible to live in this world if he honestly couldn't care for anyone. Even if he tried not to care, it would be far too impossible to ignore everyone. He knew that in the future, he'd care for Joey and the rest of the people that he was now fighting with. Yet, the path to get there was very rocky, as well as broken. Yami wasn't making it easier for him to get across it towards friendship, either. This only amused one single person in their entire class.

"This guy is phenomenal. I better buy him a drink or something."

"Kaiba!" That was the one word that Anzu found herself shouting out more frequently.

"I didn't do anything, I never do anything anymore… I don't **have** to."

Yuugi suddenly walked into the classroom, greeting everyone by saying 'good morning'. It was all too far from a cheerful morning. Joey was about to launch himself at Yami when one word stopped him from ever doing so.

"Morning." Yami said automatically without even thinking, but soon regretted it, as Yuugi seemed to notice he finally greeted someone friendly. The short boy smiled at Yami and walked forward to greet everyone else in the friendship circle, also to make sure Joey wasn't causing any more trouble for anyone. Joey was disappointed that Yuugi had to enter class right about now. The lavender-eyed teen knew his friend wouldn't be allowed to do anything violent with him around. If he did anything, Yuugi would probably step in and stop it. The entire class was a bit surprised that Yami would say that to Yuugi, of all people, and just looked at him to see the reaction.

Yami glared at them in response, and that was enough to get some of the staring to go away. He sighed once everyone had turned around to mind their own business. It was surprising to see Yami greet anyone. From what happened yesterday, they'd all say he dislikes Yuugi.

"_Good. Now you don't only look like a jerk, but also an idiot."_

Then again, didn't he look like a jerk from the first day on? Once Yuugi got closer, Yami noticed the bruises on the young teen's face, as well as a long cut near his throat. All of these bruises seemed to be left by Ushio. He wondered if there were more marks underneath that uniform. In that case, how much? Enough for Ushio to deserve another flame-thrower? This time, in a more suitable area perhaps?

He soon reached out his hand to greet Yuugi. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. Yuugi was a bit shocked by the sudden hand reaching out to greet him, but decided to greet Yami back anyways. It seemed fairly strange. In Yuugi's opinion, he thought Yami would be very upset from what happened yesterday, though he didn't seem to mention it at all. No matter. Greet first, question later.

Yami then pulled Yuugi's arm closer so he could have a better look at it. From Yuugi's point of view, he thought Yami was about to pull him down on the floor again. Good thing he was wrong. Yami noticed more bruises on the boy's pale skin, probably from Ushio's firm grip. There was a huge bruise near his wrist and one more on his cheek. He did a good job covering it up with his spiky bangs, that's for sure. One question came into mind at this point.

"Where did these cuts come from?" Yami said, his eyes now focused on Yuugi instead of his bruises.

"Ah." Yuugi moved away quickly and pulled his jacket over his hands. He didn't even think Yami would notice that. Why would he be looking for it? Anzu had helped Yuugi cover up some of the really bad cuts just to make sure Joey and Honda don't freak out and attack Ushio out of sheer rage. Though, the rest of the marks were visible. If he came into class without a bruise or two, his friends would know something was wrong, since they already knew about the beating. They had to keep it realistic enough to fool everyone. Yami, though, was a completely different person. Would he fall for the same tricks they used against Honda and Joey in order to calm them down and not attack the bad guys?

"I… accidentally bumped into a locker. Nothing important." He smiled innocently. It was about half the truth. Then again, Ushio was about the size of a locker or two. It wouldn't be a complete lie.

"_Bullshit." _

He couldn't believe it. He knew Yuugi was lying to him, but the question could now only be **why**. What reason would he have to protect the bullies from getting what they deserve?

"The bruises on your face and neck, then? Am I supposed to believe you hit the locker several times?"

Yuugi laughed a bit nervously while thinking up an excuse, avoiding eye contact.

"N-not really, but I was sorta' dizzy after that and fell down the stairs. Anzu found me and took me to the nurse. Um…" Yuugi tried to continue his sentence but seemed to be afraid to speak up. Yami's facial expression didn't make it easier on him. It seemed like he was ready to strike anyone if they dared approach him. Yuugi was merely stating half-truth at all times. He wasn't lying about Anzu helping him out, but was when he claimed he fell down the stairs. Yami was listening to his explanation, or more like 'excuses' in his ears.

He knew what happened, but wanted Yuugi to say it with his own words. He wanted Yuugi to be honest with him. Though, that wouldn't be rather likely. Yuugi knew how Honda reacted the moment he found him completely beat up black and blue. Telling Yami wasn't a good idea, since he also might do something to get back at the bully, even** if **he claimed he didn't care. The fact that Yami asked where the bruises came from in the first place was evidence he did care.

"Since I was with the nurse I couldn't come to meet up with you. I'm sorry… I really didn't mean to leave you there for 10 minutes."

"_More like half an hour."_ However, he didn't feel like confessing that to Yuugi just yet, if at all. That might give him the impression that he cared, and the last thing he needed was for the boy to interpret it wrong.

The fact Yuugi lied ticked him off for real. Why was Yuugi making excuses for Ushio? Couldn't he trust Yami at all? From the way Yami was acting, he didn't see why he could be trusted, but he didn't expect the young boy to be such a liar. He crossed his arms and looked forward with a frown.

"Ha."

Yuugi seemed to think his little lie worked. Anzu, however, saw the doubt in Yami's eyes and tried to help the situation. If Joey managed to overhear the conversation, the air in the classroom would turn rather displeasing, especially if they figure out she and Yuugi tried to cover up the worst bruises in order to keep Joey and Honda out of trouble. Something had to be done. How could she stop Yami from ruining their plot?

"It's true, Yami! I found Yuugi and helped him. He really meant no harm." She technically wasn't lying, though Yami thought she was. He had no idea what had happened in school, and whether or not their story was true, but he knew for sure that those bruises didn't come from something as silly as falling down the stairs.

"_This entire school is full of liars. I guess it really was too good to be true, they had to have some quirk."_ There was no reply from Yami, none at all. He just kept staring out the window as if Anzu was speaking to no one. Seto seemed amused at Anzu's speeches, even if she was known for making the situation better. She only made it worse when it came to Yami.

"Give up, woman, the man is not amused." Seto scoffed coldly.

Anzu didn't like his expression, but let him be for everyone's sake. No more arguments in the mornings. Their entire day would be ruined by these silly and insignificant disputes. She felt the urge to say something of great importance to Yami. By the looks he gave Yuugi earlier, he had Anzu worried that he might just snap and hit him. They didn't know what sort of person Yami was, so they might as well be cautious. Yami had shown violence towards others, while Yuugi was a person that approached Yami constantly. The last thing Anzu wanted was for Yami to hurt her best friend.

After their first lesson was over, a few girls walked up to Yami in the hall. Yami was simply standing by a few lockers, waiting for the clock to strike 9.00 so he could move on to the next class. It was at that time he least expected to be interrupted in his thoughts.

"Hey Yami, do you need a guide to show you around the school? We'll be glad to help and show you where all classes are." They asked with bright smiles. All of them appeared to be so happy and kind. That's exactly why Yami wanted to punch himself for the next sentence that was going to come out of his mouth. He knew it was coming, but he just couldn't stop it. "I'm not going to spend time with either of you, so just get lost."

He didn't want to be around them, because he knew what they were after. One didn't need to phrase it in such a cruel way, but it was practically unavoidable. This was the same thing people in Egypt would do to get close to him. He personally preferred to approach the ones he wanted to befriend instead of having people he had no interest in walk up to him and attempt to have a conversation.

Both girls stood shocked at those words. Yami presumed they'd expect a more civilized language, at least, one suitable for girls.

"We just wanted to be polite!" the shorter girl said, while clinging on to her friend's arm, appearing somewhat disturbed by Yami's words.

"Oh, please," he rolled his eyes, "-spare me your sentimentality and just vanish." Yami then waved his hand in a circle motion, which pointed towards the exit. He had quite a smug smirk on his face as he did that.

It was just to get these people off his back. Unnecessary baggage. Both girls glared at the crimson-eyed teen in anger and frustration. Did that guy really not care about what anyone said or thought about him? At least, that's the way Yami wanted them to think of him. Was he honestly a bad person? Inside Yami was a voice telling him to get away from everyone for his own safety, yet another voice pushing him to get close to everyone for his own happiness. It was a conflicting feeling, but the feeling of safety was stronger, so he ended up doing what made him feel safe and secure.

Yami had come to a conclusion that he would distance himself away from everyone, much like in Egypt. The girls stomped away in rage. They would leave Yami alone for sure now, he thought. He wasn't bothered at all, though some friends would be nice to have at some point in time. He knew what they were after, anyways, and wished he just had a 'not interested' tattoo on his forehead. Anzu who witnessed the entire conversation from a safe distance decided she would step up to confront Yami while no other person was in sight, to have a private conversation.

"Hey, listen for a while, will you?" She took a hold of Yami's arm firmly, but not brutally.

"_Does everyone here always have to grab on to me? Do I need to hold up a sign saying 'don't touch' when I walk in a public place?"_

"Hurt any of my friends, and I won't forgive you." She continued as confidently as possible, despite being nervous to the core. Yami eyed the girl skeptically. The brunette seemed to be serious, beyond serious, even. This was something he never had to deal with in Egypt. Confrontation. Whenever he'd insult someone, or fight, not a single person would stand up and say he dare not touch any of their friends again. He wasn't really sure how to handle this minor conflict.

"I won't harm them if they stay away. Also, don't freaking touch me." Yami hissed, shrugging the girl's arm off. He still hated the fact everyone in this school seemed so free that they could grab on to anyone without warning.

"What **is** your problem? Whenever you seem like a nice guy, you just reply with something cold. Do you want friends in this school?" Yami's mind was still clouded from his past experience with friends. _"Will the people here really act the same?"_ A sad look spread across his face once he realized people were not different, no matter where they were on the planet. Of course they wouldn't act different, they'd lie and hurt just like the ones in Egypt.

"No," he sighed, disappointed. Anzu's eyes narrowed in disbelief and annoyance.

"I don't believe you, to be honest. I don't care, unless you stop acting so rudely. Mark my words, touch any of my friends, and I will be after you!" She pointed sternly at him before turning around to walking away. In her head, she sighed with relief that Yami hadn't started yelling at her or even punched her. She didn't know what the guy was capable of, but so far, she could tell that he didn't use violence in the form Ushio did. Maybe he was just a guy like Joey. Letting his words speak for him yet not taking action unless in danger. That would explain why both of them didn't seem to get along.

She should have seen Yami's little act the other day in the park. Her opinion would change drastically. Violence would seem like second nature in Yami's case. Then again maybe she'd also thank him for getting revenge on Ushio. Who knows?

"I think she cares a bit too much." Yami mumbled to himself. He picked up the note Yuugi had handed him and started walking towards the hall written down on the piece of paper. He then looked at the little doodle Yuugi had made at the bottom. It made him smile for some reason. Such a simple thing could really brighten up a bad day.

"_Gods, his art really does suck. At least, he just wanted to cheer me up."_

Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks.

"..._But why?" _He asked himself as he brought the piece of paper closer to his mouth, tapping it against his lips out of boredom. The paper had an unusual scent of some sort. He figured that it must be because Yuugi's books were different than his own, perhaps older. It was a scent he really couldn't put his finger on besides the fact it also smelled like grass. A scent of dry paper, though there was something else there definitely, something sweet and refreshing.

He raised a brow in confusion while pulling the paper away from his mouth, simply to take a closer look at it.

"Vanilla?" he flipped the paper from side to side, scanning it.

"_Must be hallucinating. Probably got punched a bit too hard."_ He thought while putting the note back down in his pocket. The history room was not too far away, off in the distance. Once he reached the room he took a peek inside out of sheer curiosity. It was also to avoid the blonde and his weird overprotective friends.

Yuugi was sitting in the back as usual. Every hall seemed to have the same amount of chairs in it, and every one of them always sat in their normal spots. Yuugi waved at Yami to come and join him. Yami decided to withdraw the smile he had a while ago and just ignore Yuugi's invitation. Then again, he couldn't really ignore it. He had to sit down next to him at some point. He turned towards the window and refused to look in Yuugi's direction, finding the outside more amusing to stare at for the moment. Eventually, he sat down with his schoolbag placed on the desk, ready to endure a painful lesson in history.

Once the lesson started not a single voice was heard. Only the sound of dry chalk rubbing against a blackboard was echoing through their class. Yami messed up his notes and searched for an eraser in his bag, making some noise, though his classmates didn't appear to care much. They were too focused while taking notes.

"Just great." Yami sighed to himself.

"_No eraser. My luck."_ He folded his book all together, bored to death. Listening to the teacher ramble on, and explain things was much simpler than taking notes constantly. These teachers seemed to teach their students by keeping talking to a minimum. It would help for concentration, but it would get boring really quickly in class without any sort of talking or music.

Yami leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to get some rest. The plan would have succeeded if it weren't for a familiar voice that whispered something in his ear. He looked over tiresomely at the boy next to him. What does he want?

"I thought you needed this." Yuugi smiled and placed an eraser on Yami's desk, right next to his books. _"No. Stop. Stop right there. Stop being nice."_

"How about, no?" Crimson eyes glared at the eraser and pushed it away, only to have Yuugi place it on his desk once more. This kid really didn't give up easily. Their eyes meet for a brief moment in silence. Expressionlessly, Yami let out a sigh and grabbed the eraser. "You didn't have to," he whispered back at last.

"I know." was Yuugi's only reply before his eyes returned to examine the blackboard and his own notebook. Yami hurried to erase the flaws he'd made to then re-write what was on the blackboard. After a while, the teacher told them they'd be watching a short clip. They rolled down the white screen and turned on the projector. Yami took this time to return the eraser to Yuugi. He looked over at the teen that was so completely lost into writing that he didn't notice Yami's wave. What could catch the boy's attention? Yami regretted the thought and action as he was doing it, but what else could be done? He simply poked Yuugi's arm.

"Thanks." Not even he could mess up by simply thanking the guy.

"Keep it. I think you'll need it more than me." Yami noticed Yuugi was only being friendly, so he didn't think twice about that statement. This kid didn't seem like the sort of guy who would enjoy making fun of others. The aura just wasn't negative. Nothing appeared hurtful, no matter how it was worded. It didn't help that the statement was true either.

"_Lucky for you that I can't take you seriously. Not when you smile like that."_

"Whatever." He held on to the eraser and placed it inside his notebook before looking up to view the short movie that was playing in front of them. He still didn't appreciate the fact Yuugi had lied to him about the beating. Nevertheless, Anzu lied to him as well partly to his knowledge. He was somewhat mad at both of them but realized he hadn't been a saint either and probably deserved all what Anzu threw at him earlier.

Once school was over, Yuugi looked up at Yami and asked if they could walk back home together this time instead of yesterday.

"This time I'm coming with you, so you don't run away." Yami followed Yuugi to his locker so the short teen could deposit some papers, and bring other important books home. Yuugi thought it was amusing that Yami was concerned he would run away, when **he** was the one suggesting they'd walk home together, anyhow, it allowed Yuugi to keep a closer eye on Yami so he wouldn't run away either.

Yami though didn't follow Yuugi because he was afraid of him running away, but was worried of Ushio coming back to pick on the guy since he seemed to know where Yuugi's locker was located. It surprised him at how many notebooks the young boy had in his bag when he turned to look in Yuugi's direction.

"How in the hell can you…carry all that?" Yami asked. He was now questioning himself why Yuugi didn't punch the ever-loving crap out of Ushio if he could carry that amount of books with ease by himself. The boy was rather petite compared to Ushio, but he still managed to carry so many books at once. Now that Yami thought about it, how could the boy RUN with that thing on his back? It probably weighed more than him.

"You get used to it after awhile." He said while pulling Yami's arm closer to the exit. That action seemed to tick off the taller one of them greatly.

"Fine! I'm coming, you don't have to… drag me." He yelled out, shaking Yuugi's arm off himself.

"_It's getting very hard to yell at him and keep a straight face on. All those smiles just… just, why me?"_

Yuugi realized Yami wasn't really going to treat him as a friend from the get-go but he could try making him feel more comfortable around Domino High.

On the way home though, their situation got way less than comfortable. Yuugi was talking to Yami about all the classes and that he needed to keep a good track of them from now on, because he had the real schedule to rely on.

"_Is he for real? He's not even going to explain himself? How can he just lie like that? What's the harm in telling me he got beat up?"_

All classes and all teachers Yuugi was talking about didn't interest Yami in this moment. Sure, it was useful information but it wasn't something Yami couldn't figure out by himself eventually. Every word that Yuugi said just seemed to annoy him until he reached his breaking point. He didn't mean to say it but it just came out like a bad habit.

"Does it look like I care?"

Yuugi was a little disappointed and remained silent after those words were thrown in his face. Yami decided that it surely was hopeless. Yuugi must have given up on him by now and if not, he was about to make sure Yuugi did give up. That was the final straw. He didn't want to be around the kid anymore. Not after all that he put him through or the things he said to his classmates. None of it could be taken back. The guilt was bringing him down and he just wanted to escape. Instead of removing that guilt with an apology, he could try and turn that guilt into hate.

"Why did you lie to me?"

Yuugi stopped walking and just replied with a confused

"What?" Could Yami have figured out what really happened?

"Don't act dumb." Yami said in a harsher tone. Yuugi lowered his head and stared at the ground, his golden bangs covered up his face, as well as some of the bruises. He knew that he had lied to Yami but he didn't want him to worry or provoke the bullies even further. He most of all didn't want to cause Yami any trouble because of something that happened out of bad luck. Who knows what Honda was doing in this moment? Probably planning on getting revenge along with Joey. The last thing he needed was for Yami to be targeted by the bullies too. Especially since he was a new student, he didn't need that sort of hectic life in Domino High. Though, what could be said?

"Those bruises on you, am I supposed to believe you'd be **stupid** enough to fall down the stairs and cause such harm to yourself?" It really didn't seem likely. Even if Yami didn't know of the beating, he would never for a second believe Yuugi fell down the stairs. Maybe get pushed down but not fall. He wasn't as clumsy as he made himself look like.

"Anzu helped me, I'm ok really…" Yuugi mumbled silently, looking away from Yami's eyes, which now seemed to spark with fury. Yuugi's answer didn't really address Yami's question, which was what made Yami even more upset. Just one straight answer, was that too much to ask for every once in awhile?

"Don't mistake me for your idiot friend. I won't buy that excuse."

Yuugi raised his head to look up at Yami. This was probably the only moment where Yami had stared deep into Yuugi's eyes for a long time. He looked the boy straight in the face with no fear or expression whatsoever. Yami's crimson eyes pierced through the young ones lavender ones.

"I don't want to be friends with liars." He grabbed the note out of his pocket and just held it up in front of Yuugi without removing his eyes from the boy. "Here, I don't need this thing anymore." He said while letting the note go so it hit the ground. Yuugi stared back at him in disappointment and reached out to grab the note off the ground. He held it in his hands tightly.

"Alright, I understand…sorry to have bothered you." He tried to smile to the best of his abilities, even though Yami had just acted so cruel towards him. This was another action his grandpa had always taught him. A smile would make everything better. Yuugi's grandpa clearly hadn't met this stubborn teen that was now accompanying his grandson. Yami turned around and didn't bother to look back, though he could have sworn he nearly left Yuugi in tears after that statement.


	2. A new bond?

"FUCKING IDIOT!" was the only words Atem heard once Yami stomped into their house in rage, furiously shutting the door with a loud slam. Atem was beyond surprised, he never saw his little brother this upset before. He had never heard him curse at himself out loud either. This was basically how Yami would react to every single thing he'd said in that classroom.

He'd be cursing mentally for being such a jerk to people who only wanted to help him. Something told Yami to stay away from them, and his only solution of how to make them stay away was to hurt them. In defeat, the loud, angry teen dropped all his belongings and ran over to the couch, laying facedown much like Atem had done yesterday. Actually, it was more like he threw himself facedown and hugged the pillow with all the force he could gather.

Atem heard Yami yell something loudly in the pillow. He walked out of the kitchen, where he'd been washing dishes, and stepped closer to his little brother. He removed the pillow from his face so Yami was forced to lean his head to the side of the couch, his eyes locked on the window as he looked outside.

"Care to say that again without the pillow in your face?" Atem asked, raising a brow questionably, not really sure if he wanted to know what was on Yami's mind. Yami twisted and turned on the couch while he grabbed his golden bangs in fury.

"FUCKING IDIOT!" he repeated yet again. Yami grabbed the pillow from Atem's hands and placed it on his face, mumbling something along the lines of, "I will suffocate myself to death."

Atem sighed once more as he took a hold of the pillow and pulled it away from his brother.

"If you want to talk about it, I'm here, because God knows I'm not leaving Japan without you. I'm not that lucky." Yami looked up at his brother questionably. The look Yami had given him didn't resemble an angry glare or a casual smirk. Instead, his expression was not only angry, but also miserable. It was almost as if the anger was hiding underneath, or trying to take control over what he was saying.

"You can leave with my corpse." Yami pulled the pillow towards himself, somewhat brutally.

Atem had to take it back for what seemed to be the millionth time, and keep it at a safe distance from Yami.

"What could possibly be so bad you have to suffocate yourself to death?" he asked, hiding the pillow behind his back, since Yami's glare indicated that he might get tackled if he doesn't hand it over.

The pale teen sighed, calming down with each passing second. He dragged himself up off the couch and walked over to pick up all the items that flew out once he dropped his bag. When he was going through his things, he reached for the notebook, which caused the eraser Yuugi had handed him to fall out. He placed the book down and picked up the eraser, showing it to his older brother. Atem didn't seem to get the point. What was Yami trying to say?

"This. This is the reason I'm an idiot." Atem still didn't seem to understand what his brother was telling him.

"All right…elaborate," he said, placing the pillow down, helping Yami pick up the pencils and papers that flew out. Yami bit his lower-lip nervously. Should he talk about this? He never went to Atem for advice or help. There was no time for that in the past. Now that they're 'trapped' here together, they do only have each other. It wouldn't hurt to get rid of these feelings.

"This…guy!" Yami pulled his golden bangs yet again, in fury. He was almost confident he'd pull all his hair out from this experience, yet losing some hair probably wasn't a problem. There was so much of it after all. Atem seemed to wonder what sort of guy could be ticking off his brother this immensely. He knew Yami could be angry but it would never be with himself. This boy seemed to get on his brothers nerves but far from what he expected.

"He just won't leave me alone! I don't know what to do because every time I step close to him I turn into an-"

"An asshole?" Atem finished his brother's sentence with a cheerful smile. The only response Atem received was an irate glare. Sure, he was right but did he really have to phrase it like that? Yami sat down on the floor in defeat and messed around with the heap of pencils in. Carefully, he watched Atem pick up some of the papers before answering back rather quietly. It was almost as if he was embarrassed.

"Yes?"

Confusion spread across Atem's face. So, this boy had now only been around Yami when he was at his worst, or so he assumed. It wouldn't take long before this person gave up and left his little brother alone. The question was now, why not sooner?

"How is he still around you if you just act like an ass all the time?" Not even Atem seemed to comprehend this.

"I …DON'T KNOW!" Yami said while he clasped his hands around the pile of pencils, shoving them back in the bag before standing up, repeating the same sentence over again.

"I don't know and it pisses me off since he really wants to be my friend! He's so nice and cute, yet all he thinks of is guiding me through the school! I tried getting rid of the guy but it just hurts so bad every time I insult him!"

"Why do you insult him?"

"So he can leave me alone! Imagine having someone so positive and bright around you that the sun would look dim in comparison!"

Atem couldn't believe his ears. So the boy who was giving Yami such a hard time was a happy chirpy kid that just wanted to be friends with him?

"Wow, you are an asshole." Atem proclaimed as he handed Yami the papers he'd gathered up from the floor.

"Well. I don't know how to help you really, Yami. I'm glad you shared something with me at least." Yami now realized what this feeling was. Not only a feeling of guilt or anger. It was the feeling of fear. Fear of going back and having Yuugi act the exact same way as he did before. Of course, he doubted the kid would act the same after that experience but you never know. What if he did indeed forgive Yami for that? He hoped Yuugi didn't forgive him. He didn't know him after all, what reason would there be to befriend someone who acted so negative? Insult after insult, how would he manage to keep this up? If he managed to keep this up, would he really be left alone, or would he be surrounded hate? Maybe there was a difference in how to deal with this situation, though he knew no other way than to make everyone hate him, in order to be left alone.

It worked in Egypt and got people off his back when he didn't care for them. It was the only tactic he had and it always worked. This method of getting rid of people who tried to befriend him was never questioned, that was at least until he meet Yuugi. Someone who just wanted to help didn't deserve this. They didn't deserve so much hatred. How low did someone have to sink, before realizing that things may have gone a little bit too far?

"Why am I so useless at this whole friendship thing?" he asked.

"Because you never had friends? No surprise really." His older brother could be so cold at times, especially in situations where he obviously could not see Yami was hurt. That comment seemed to hurt more than what was intended. The older one noticed how Yami's eyes got a bit saddened but then turned sharp and angry in a matter of seconds.

"No. No surprise." He hissed while walking up the stairs, heading towards his room.

"Yami, I didn't-" When the door was slammed shut, it created a dull echo. A loud thud was heard soon after, as if Yami just dropped all his stuff at the top floor. Atem scratched his head, and was left completely speechless.

"Brother, you are hard to figure out. I wish you could just stop looking at everything so black and white." He headed back into the kitchen to continue the dishes he left so suddenly thanks to his brother.

At the top floor however, Yami was cursing himself even more for being so horrible to everyone. It surely was like a bad habit. It was something he just couldn't stop easily once he started. He did still not like the fact Joey had made fun of him the minute he stepped into class, and he thought that it was the main reason why he targeted almost anyone as his enemy. Even Yuugi, which was way off the track of sane. The guy only wanted to help, after all. Breaking him mentally was only mean, and he was no different than Ushio if he did that. The only difference was that Yami did it with words instead of throwing punches.

"I have to apologize to him. Even if I tell him I don't want to spent time with him, I have to set things right." He tapped his index finger against his lips for a few seconds, as he was trying to come up with a solution. His thoughts wandered off to what Atem mentioned a while ago.  
"No surprise really."

What did he mean by that? Something that will make other people stay away from him and not bother, that's all he wanted. It's not like there was a magic formula for it. He didn't want any friends in Egypt, but maybe Japan could be different?

He seemed to have a huge problem with his brother's comment. It didn't only irritate him but also make him want to confess a huge burden to Atem. Something he knew would come off as strange because of how little they actually knew each other, or spent time together.

"Atem, you have no idea why I don't want any friends to begin with…" He mumbled still holding his index finger against his lips, continuing to fall into deeper thoughts. The more he thought about this, the more upset he got and off-track to what he was supposed to be thinking about, which was seeking forgiveness.

"Everyone who got close to me only wanted to be my friend to get close to you, since you were so freaking perfect." He bit his fingers angrily.

"Ow…" Not a very smart idea. Crimson eyes shifted to look out the window. There was a nice overview of Domino Park from this room. The park was far prettier inside but way safer when at a distance. Yami walked around for a bit in his room, giving his brother some more thought. There was one major difference from what happened in Egypt from what was going on here.

_"No one here knows him. Maybe… I could act friendly. They most likely won't bother me if they don't know that Atem is my brother."_ He tried to remember all the conversations he'd had with the crew, trying to recall if he mentioned a brother even once.

No. No memory of it at all. Then maybe, he could still try to act friendly around others. Then there was the problem of him making Yuugi cry a few minutes ago. The short teen didn't see him cry exactly, but Yami felt as if he had just crushed the boy's hopes of getting a new friend.

_"If I knew where he lived I'd run over and explain myself."_ He then thought for another moment about what he said. A cold wave of utter realization hit him like a massive mallet.

_"…Shit. I don't have an explanation."_ He sighed while he threw himself onto his bed, facedown, and looked over at the fluffy pillow. He grabbed it and rolled it around for a few seconds, then focused his eyes back on the window over his bed. Blue skies, wonderful weather, children and animals probably playing in the park happily, while he was too tired to even think of something fun to do. Why couldn't Yuugi just react like everyone else and throw a fit? Why did he have to smile? Why couldn't he stop thinking about those smiles? Yami pushed the pillow away and just looked at it with a blank expression.

_"Suffocating myself to death keeps looking more promising."_ He rolled his eyes and crawled under the sheets, not even bothering to change out of his outfit. He was too tired to care for homework, or care for the voices yelling and arguing inside his head, and way too tired to deal with his family. He simply closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep while hugging his pillow tightly. Sleep was the only thing that could make all the problems vanish for a little while. For a brief moment, even if it was temporary, forced, insignificant, it would bring SOME peace and that's all he could truly ask for.

* * *

The next morning was all but a breeze. How could someone make such a miscalculation of the time? Yami woke up about 2 hours late for school. He cursed because he didn't set the alarm and Atem didn't come up to check on him before he went to sleep.

However, he did set Yami's uniform up for him. That may have been the only correct event this entire week. Clearly this wasn't Atem's fault but he cursed him anyways for at least not checking up on the alarm. Yami got out of bed, dressed in a rush, and grabbed his bag to run down the stairs, through the door, without any breakfast or preparations. He didn't even stop to greet Atem on the way or explain himself.

Atem who was in the kitchen, screamed in fear when his little brother suddenly stormed out of the house in a rapid speed. The tanned teen assumed Yami already left for school. If he knew Yami was still sleeping he would have tried to wake him up long ago.

"Oh God, little brother… you're in a lot of trouble now."

Being late usually didn't happen so frequently, however, it was nothing Yami could not handle. The problem was what waited inside the school, and that terrified him the most.

He increased his running pace while looking at the clock on his wrist. There was still a chance he would make it in time for biology and English, but he had to hurry before the classroom closed. Once the door was closed no one was allowed inside. The gate remained open for them, luckily. Running through Domino Park was a neat shortcut, in a small amount of time; he could spot the school from a distance and hoped he still had some time left.

It appeared as if he traveled in the speed of light by the small amount of time it took him to normally reach the school. Yami picked up his schedule to search for the biology room. Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, a familiar shivering sensation of worry consumed him. He thought he was only imagining things since he overslept and was still half asleep, so he read it again or more like 'attempted' to read it. He rubbed his eyes and continued to scan the piece of paper, but nothing made sense.

_"I-I can't read any of this!"_ He put the paper aside realizing it was much more useful to follow Yuugi's note than it was on the actual schedule which seemed to have Japanese and English written over it confusingly. It didn't include a map but only the numbers of the halls, which didn't help much since he didn't have every hall in the school memorized. There was also no map showing the locations of what floor each class was on, it was a complete mess. It would be easy for the others to understand of course since they studied at Domino High much longer but for Yami, following this schedule was nearly impossible.

He looked around for some teacher so he could ask for directions but settled for a young girl that seemed to be talking to her friend. To Yami's surprise it was the two girls he rejected yesterday, in a very disgraceful manner at that. He swallowed his pride and ran over to them.

"Biology class! Where?" he asked in a hurry. There was no time to be picky after all.

The girls simply stared at him, they obviously remembered yesterday's little act. Yami realized he wasn't going to get an answer out of them easily. This was probably one of those times friends would be very useful. He clasped his hands together as if he was begging them to tell him where to go.

_"I'm in so much trouble I don't even care about my pride anymore."_

He asked them to please tell him where their biology classroom was located. They both pointed at the stairs in the distance and said it was on the 3rd floor, a little surprised at Yami's sudden change of personality. He didn't seem like the jerk he was yesterday. Though, in Yami's opinion he really couldn't care less about them.

"Thank you!" He said and waved them goodbye. They both just watched him run off before they turned to each other and tried to understand what just happened.

_"It was the only way to get an answer out of them."_ After thinking about it once more he realized it didn't feel all that bad to say 'thank you' or 'please'. Though they were phrases he didn't like. He'd heard them so many times they lost their value. Mainly, people who did not honestly mean it said those words. He just considered them all a bunch of useless phrases that could be thrown out of the dictionary. They were only words to add in a sentence if you really wanted something from people or show some kind of courtesy after all. He was practically sweating and out of breath once he arrived at the third floor. He had been running all the way from home to school and was exhausted beyond reason. His body was not built for such exercise early in the morning.

The biology teacher was about to head inside the classroom, he caught her just barely.

"Wait a minute!" Yami yelled from across the hall. Luckily, he managed to grab the door before it closed.

"I'm here!" was a loud shout everyone in class heard before an individual rushed inside. He nearly fell over as he made his entrance around the teacher. The students looked at him confusingly as he arrived messily to school. Was this the same guy from yesterday that acted all hostile and cool? His clothes were completely wrinkled and his hair was a huge mess. His golden bangs were less spiky and curlier because of the position he slept in the entire night. His eyes slightly red from just waking up and his stance was less than confident. He surely didn't look like the normal self they were used to seeing. Yami realized he just crossed the first rule he made for himself. No scenes. This was a scene. Luckily he caught on to it and regained his composure rather quickly.

"Quit staring already." He managed to say; however he was still trying to catch his breath, so that phrase didn't sound as confident as it should have. Running through the entire park, to school and up a huge amount of stairs could drain ones energy out. The energy he'd gathered from sleeping so much. At least it was put to good use. He wouldn't have the strength to argue with Joey after that little run. That was another pro. It didn't take long for him to regain the attitude he had last time.

After every passing second, he looked more like the guy from yesterday, unpredictable and untouchable.

Though, since he arrived here, he had probably been grabbed, hit, and touched more than if he would have been in Egypt. Well, it was more entertaining to stay in Japan than in Egypt, that was true for sure. At least one couldn't expect the same routine to play out every day.

He walked over to take a seat next to Yuugi like normally. Yami looked over to him only to meet his somewhat puzzled looking face. He wasn't smiling or frowning. He really didn't seem to know what to think of this weird event. It was as if Yami was a completely different person in those couple of seconds. Yuugi was about to speak up but Yami beat him to it.

"Yes I know, I'm like two hours late, I care as little about that as my appearance at this minute." The tone of voice it was said in was mocking, not understanding. Yuugi simply looked away from Yami and focused on the teacher instead.

Great, now the silence treatment was starting to piss him off. He wished Yuugi would just hit back every once in a while. It seemed like that was what Joey was for. Joey threw an eraser at Yami, to catch his attention. It didn't annoy him as much as it confused him. As soon as Yami looked at the blonde he saw a note he held up with the words "Watch what you say or else I'll –" and the rest was written in Japanese. Yami frowned when Joey stuck his tongue out and taunted him like a little kid. Sure, it was an empty threat but it ticked him off nevertheless. He opened his bag and pulled out the books he needed for the lesson.

_"Didn't you say you were going to stop being an ass?"_ He thought to himself yet again. _"Reconsidered."_ was the only logical word that came into mind. Why did he not act nice to Yuugi? Even after he wanted to, so badly. Mainly because kindness required effort, being a jerk required nothing but a little wit.

Maybe it was just the mood he was in at the moment. All that was left to do was to wait for the teacher to start the lesson. He would much rather be talking to Yuugi but knew that if he didn't plan out what to say, he'd only act mean again. It was best to not say anything until the right time arrived.

Once the lesson had begun Yami noticed that Yuugi was looking at him every now and then while taking notes. He didn't exactly know what the boy wanted but continued writing down his own notes. The staring wasn't unpleasing but he wished Yuugi would pick a better time to stare at him. Especially since he left his style at home.

It was home with his pride, lying right next to his modesty. He'd lost happiness long ago and didn't even attempt to regain it. Yami flipped over a few pages in the notebook, only to have something familiar fall out of it again. It was strange to see how many things were falling out of his schoolbooks recently.

The eraser Yuugi handed him was still in there. He wondered if Yuugi wanted it back. Of course, Yami had no reason to keep it anymore, especially not after that rant yesterday. It was Yuugi's after all.

He reached out for it and tossed it over to him after a second or two. It didn't require much thought, it belonged to him, so why not?

Yuugi looked at him yet again, but waited for Yami to say something. Yami though, did not bother looking back or even say why he'd returned the eraser. It was self-explanatory. Meeting his gaze would only make this situation more awkward. Instead he just crossed his arms and legs.

"What? It's yours." He whispered with a shrug. Yuugi picked up the eraser and scanned it for a while.

"Yeah, though, I sort of gave it to you." He carefully placed it at the edge of Yami's bench and returned to look at the board. Was this boy serious? He was still acting friendly even after such a horrible outburst Yami allowed himself to have yesterday? He shook his head in misery. He couldn't believe this kid. This couldn't be real. No, it shouldn't be real. There was no human in the entire world that could act like this. That could tolerate such cruelty. Yet, just a few inches away from him sat this innocent looking kid who so desperately still acted friendly. Why was it even so important? He couldn't help but to feel bad for the kid. Why did someone so kind had to be placed next to someone as messed up as Yami?

He had not noticed that he was in fact looking at Yuugi for quite some time. The young boy noticed Yami's stare and their eyes meet for a split second before Yami turned to look at the blackboard quickly, earning a light chuckle from the lavender-eyed teen.

_"How Cute…He knows I care."_ Yami sighed and lost himself in his own thoughts, deciding to ignore the blackboard even if he was staring right at it.

After Biology class was over and done with he walked over to Yuugi and asked him a question.

"Hey-" Yuugi didn't expect Yami to ever approach him for a conversation because of what happened yesterday but nevertheless he was willing to listen. Yami couldn't seem to ask the question. It felt wrong. It felt weird. It just didn't seem like something he had the right to do after all the comments thrown around.

"Well, you see…-" Yuugi interrupted him.

"The schedule was in Japanese?" Both of them stood silently for a few seconds before Yami confirmed it with an awkward nod. Anzu who was just exiting class saw the entire scenario play out. Words could not describe how badly she wanted to hit Yami across the face if this was honestly what his nature was like. She thought he'd treat everyone badly until they could be useful to him. Well, he wasn't going to get his way with her friends. She wouldn't allow anyone to exploit Yuugi for his kindness. It had happened before too many times, and it would not be allowed to happen again. That was, unless Yami decided to beat her too it.

"Well, I still have the note in my pocket since yesterday. You can have it if you really need it." He was about to reach out for the note out of his pocket when Yami stopped him. Yuugi jerked backwards a bit. Surprised that Yami would reach out and grab his arm like that. Especially since he knew Yami didn't like people grabbing on to him all the time. Yuugi couldn't tell exactly what he was feeling. His expression wasn't blank but it seemed to be filled with all sorts of emotions. It was hard figuring out what the intent behind the act was, all until…

"No. No thank you." He said looking straight into the eyes of the smaller kid while pulling his hand away from his pocket and placing it back straight down.

_"You can't! You just can't! This is so low! I don't care how humiliating it will be to arrive late to every class or even miss classes. You're not asking for the note back."_

"This is so wrong," He mumbled and tapped his fingers against his lips nervously. Why did he even try and ask that?

"This is so not right." Yami repeated. Yuugi was standing there confused over what just happened. There was a war of several voices screaming in Yami's head, one voice trying to dominate the other and trying to hurt Yuugi once more, knowing that Yami would feel utterly horrible about it later on. Yet, there was this other voice, the voice of reason. Maybe all hope wasn't lost after all.

_"Don't hurt him anymore. You'll have to deal with the consequences, even if that means wandering around the school aimlessly. It's either that or say you're sorry, and we all know that you won't be saying 'sorry' anytime soon."_

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna bother you anymore. I'll find my way around. See ya." He said and walked past Yuugi. The young one simply stood there silently, looking towards Yami's figure as he disappeared in the crowd of people. Anzu on the other hand was probably more confused than what Yuugi was. She heard everything, yet she was sure she didn't say anything. What made Yami suddenly turn so normal?

"What on earth was that?" she questioned herself as she began to walk towards the hall Yami headed to.

Yami was slapping himself in the face as he walked into a random direction. He had nowhere to go. He didn't either KNOW where to go. English, where? Well, if the classrooms were named or they had a map around the school it would help lots. Yet, now he really was all on his own. No idea where to go, and asking someone for directions would be too embarrassing to deal with. He really wished he had not thrown the note in Yuugi's face and just downright insulted his friends. They seemed like nice people, so why the hostility?

_"I can't ask him for the note. I tossed it and practically almost tore it apart. How could I ask for it back only because I need it?"_ He stopped walking only to lean on to a locker and then hit his head against it while cursing.

The people walking by didn't really find Yami's act all too interesting but they were focused on getting to their own classes. After all, only the people in Yami's class knew exactly who he was and what his personality was like. At least the personality he'd showed them during these days. Thoughts of how badly he'd explain himself to the others rushed through his mind. Several scenarios played out in his mind of what would happen if he messed up horribly. All the scenarios had nothing but bad endings.

_"Silence. I don't want to hear anymore."_

He groaned, and turned around to look at some of the numbers on the doors, finding everything else less amusing. Why not try to get to the next class? Maybe the Japanese schedule was not so bad after all? He looked at the schedule to see if there were any numbers written on it, to his surprise, no numbers. There were English words, but nothing he could make sentences out of or even begin to comprehend. Basically, you needed to know the school or the language to understand this.

He lowered his head in defeat while he threw the schedule away in the trashcan.

_"This thing is as useless as my attempts to communicate." _He picked the paper back up and ripped it into pieces. It was better to take the anger out on this piece of paper than argue with Joey later on somehow.

Controlling his anger was a problem, also another reason to why making everyone pissed was easier than being nice. He stood there for a while only looking at the different halls. Wondering if one of them would be the right one or lead to the right classroom.

"Lost?" a female voice asked.

It was that friend of Yuugi's. Yami didn't want to give her a response, fearing he would insult her unintentionally again.

"English is…-" She pointed straight down the hall…

"To the left, right down there." and smiled at Yami.

He was confused. She acted so friendly. Even if he didn't want to have anything to do with her, his question was rather automatic.

"Why are you-"

"Helping you? Hi by the way, my name is Anzu." She finished off his sentence. Yami only nodded. He saw no reason to state his name since she probably already knew.

"You didn't act like a complete ass for once. I was about to slap you when you asked for Yuugi's note, but since you refused, it gave me a little hope. You might not be that bad after all."

If she had any idea what was going through Yami's mind at the moment, she'd regret her words. He again reacted without thinking; there was just something he needed to ask. This nagging voice inside his head demanded an answer to the question. Yami refused to spend another second with this person, attempting to have a conversation, without asking what was on his mind.

"Why did you guys lie to me?"

Anzu was mesmerized, what did Yami mean by that? She tilted her head to the right and only came up with one occasion where they'd lied. Not even lied, but maybe masked the truth… All right, they lied.

"I know Ushio beat Yuugi up. You don't have to hide it, my question is, why did you?"

He looked up at the taller brunette. It was slightly annoying that she was taller than him. Most of his height even came from his freaky hair, so he was about twice as short compared to her. Anzu only let out some 'hm' sounds and folded her arms behind her back. It seemed like she didn't like speaking about this sort of thing. A bad memory or so probably, that was best left forgotten.

"Yuugi used to be bullied a lot in the past. Even by Joey until he realized he was wrong and asked for forgiveness, so did Honda. I guess he didn't want you to feel sorry for him. Most people did back then because he was such an easy target without many friends, except me."

Yami was more than confused. Joey? He had been a bully? The two of them seemed like such good friends, it was impossible to imagine Joey hitting Yuugi even over a joke or as a friendly gesture. Joey was defending Yuugi all this time. It just wasn't possible that such a thing could happen, could it? Then again, if Joey really did beat Yuugi up and mess with him, why would Yuugi possibly forgive him? Yami seemed to doubt this was the case but played along anyways.

"Did Yuugi really forgive him for all he'd done?" Yami asked idly. He wasn't really sure if what Anzu said was true but he seemed to take her word for it. Maybe it was wishful thinking.

"Of course. Yuugi was happy he made a new friend. You really don't know who you're dealing with here." Anzu smiled once again.

No. He knew exactly whom he was dealing with and it scared him. Even if Yuugi forgave him it still didn't wipe out the things he had said or done.

Would Yuugi forgive him for all he'd done? There was nothing to lose if he asked for forgiveness. Then again, maybe asking for forgiveness was the point where Yuugi would snap at him.

"Wait a minute. How do you know Ushio beat Yuugi up?" Anzu asked.

"Wait, how did you know actually?" He hadn't asked himself this but now he was curious as well. Was Anzu there with Yuugi when it happened?

"I helped him recover a bit after the beating."

"Oh… I just beat the fuck out of Ushio when I found out." Yami smirked. He was still very proud of that. It wasn't often he got into these sort of fights where either party would leave with a severe injury. Anzu gasped in surprise.

"Wait! You set the guy's hair on fire?" Yami raised a brow at her comment.

"You know about that?"

"Hell yes! High five!"

She grabbed his wrist and high fived him practically against his will. He was perplexed by the sudden attitude she had around him. It seemed more relaxed and more carefree. She also seemed more demonic now that he took a closer look at her. There was a fire in her eyes. She really enjoyed hearing this. Then again, Yami did too. Thinking back at that moment, he could only say that Ushio deserved all he got. There was also no news about Ushio in school. They hadn't heard of him beating up any new victim, so the fire did the trick.

_"Perhaps setting me on fire will cure this horrible attitude too?" _Hell, it worked with Ushio. He wasn't in school, and even if he were; he wouldn't dare go near Yuugi.

"All right! Someone finally gave that bastard what he deserved."

He was amused at her happiness. She didn't seem like the kind of girl who would enjoy picking on bullies, but little did he know Anzu cheered the ones who protected her friends…while she beat up the ones who tried to harm them.

"If you honestly cared for Yuugi then why did you act so mental the day after?"

A little stunned at her phrasing at first, he thought this one through before answering very carefully.

"Because I thought you guys lied to me. When you said you helped him I just assumed I knew everything that happened when he got beat up." It was about the best answer he could give her right now. She nodded in response, satisfied with getting a decent reply out of him.

She waved at Yami to come join her while they walked to their English class together.

"Well, she does care too much but caring isn't something bad."

He was staring down at the floor during the entire walk, thinking a bit too much about how to exactly ask for forgiveness. It was difficult. Especially since Yuugi was just... Well, he was not someone Yami encountered every day.

They finally arrived to their English classroom. If Anzu did not open the door at the right time, Yami would have most probably walked into it.

"Uh, are you all right?" She attempted to communicate with him but he was far too deep in his thoughts to hear her.

She then held Yami's hand and guided him to his seat, he didn't seem to notice or mind at the time. He was too focused in his thoughts. Yuugi was already sitting down and doodling something in his book. No one in class realized Anzu and Yami walk past until she greeted everyone.

Yami shrugged her hand off once he heard Anzu mention Yuugi's name. He still didn't feel comfortable with the sense of touch. The only reason he didn't tell her to let go sooner was because he barely noticed it. Come to think of it...

"...What was that all about?"

"To make sure you didn't hit yourself in a wall or two." She grinned. Yami didn't notice that during this entire time he'd been locked away in his head, away from all social life.

It would not hurt if he walked into a wall, but yes it would be very embarrassing. Anzu waved her hand in front of Yami's face only to have him blink in response. He probably didn't hear anything after the wall comment.

"You space out a lot for a violent thug."

"Ha-ha, very funny." The sentence was overflowing with sarcasm but it wasn't meant to be hurtful. He rolled his eyes at her comment and took his seat.

Soon the other crewmembers showed up, surprised to see Yami and Anzu talking so casually. Seto was wondering how Anzu managed to do this before him. Especially since he knew Anzu didn't like him at all. If anything, she would be the one to make sure he stayed away from all of them, or maybe she was just telling him not to go around and talk to Seto. Whichever it was, it didn't amuse anyone. Kaiba thought of becoming friends with Yami since the guy always fought with everyone. Having some comedy filling their classroom's every once in a while would be a good stress relief. Joey was about to throw a fit until he looked over at Honda who pulled him back and headed over to their direction.

"Okay. When did hell freeze ova'?" Joey looked around the room and then up at Seto who only gave him a glare in response.

"Well, it's seems as if I'LL have to deal with you myself today, mutt. Let's see, how should I degrade you today-" Kaiba joked. That took Joey's attention of Yami for sure.

Honda walked up to Anzu and ended their conversation, glaring at Yami as if he was about to hit her or hurt her in some way.

Yami wasn't bothered. He'd prefer if they took their regular seats so he could speak to Yuugi and ask for forgiveness. That was the main issue he had to deal with right now. As soon as Anzu's attention was directed towards Honda he could look over at Yuugi who was still scribbling something in his notebook.

"It doesn't hurt if I try, right?" The more he pushed that into his mind the more likely he was to actually say sorry. Yet the other voices in his head simply told him to stay away from the kid. That it was all hopeless anyways. He looked at Yuugi, a bit more in detail.

No. It wouldn't hurt at all. Though seeing those smiles every now and then could make anyone nervous. Even though he was covered in bruises from the beating, he still refused to look sad. While taking notes he looked as bright as usual. Was such a thing normal around here? Yami's thought trailed off to what he was thinking the first time he saw Yuugi in class. When he thought they were in fact almost like twins, only to find out they were the complete opposite.

_"It really wouldn't hurt if he had some leather pants on."_

No. Wrong. First forgiveness, then they could go out shopping.

"Hello? Yami? Anyone there?" Yuugi said waving his hand in front of the taller ones face. Yami snapped back into reality.

"Uh, yes?" he replied quickly unaware of who was even asking the question. "You've been staring at me for a long time, are you feeling alright?"

Did Yami really space out while looking at Yuugi? He didn't know what to reply to the kid. He wanted to give him a quick reply but regretted his words mid-sentence.

"Why do you c- damn it." he placed both elbows on the desk before putting his palms on his face, hiding. Yuugi thought it was weird seeing how confusing Yami acted and decided to ask Anzu if she knew anything. She only shook her head in a negative gesture as a response to Yuugi's question. She wasn't going to make forgiveness easy for Yami to gain.

If he wanted a friendship, he'd have to fight for one. Yuugi was worth a fight and she knew Yami knew that himself.

Meanwhile, Yami's thoughts were clouded with regret and utter despair.

_"Why is it so hard to say one single word? Sorry. That one word is exactly what could get me out of Japan to be honest. Why don't I bother apologizing to my parents? How do I expect to apologize to Yuugi if I can't apologize to my own family members?"_

His hands moved from his face to his forehead. He was getting a slight headache from all the thinking. It was about to get worse.

The English teacher arrived at last and didn't give them an easy time 'slacking off' as she would put it. Yami enjoyed English, but at this point he didn't want to see another letter, ever. No more letters. If the letters weren't in the form of 'I'm sorry', or how to pronounce the words, then he wasn't interested.

"They should have a class that teaches people like me how to apologize and admit they're wrong," He mumbled to himself. Luckily no one was able to hear his talking as they were focusing on the teacher.

Right after that class ended and their teacher allowed them to leave, Yami was first to rush out in a hurry. The way he had exited was rather… interesting. As soon as the teacher announced class was over he jumped up and ran as if his life depended on it, leaving Yuugi and the rest shocked once again.

"Wow. He was ecstatic class was ova'" Joey said scratching the back of his head.

"Ugh…Coward…" Anzu whispered to herself.

"I must say, for a guy like him, he sure knows how to make both a dramatic entrance and exit." Kaiba said picking up the books from his desk, not even looking at Yami's little escape.

It was as if the classroom held him as a prisoner. As soon as the doors unlocked for him to reclaim his freedom, he ran as fast as possible. Anzu looked over at Yuugi who seemed to stare blankly at nothingness.

"Yug, ya comin'?" Joey asked. There was only a moment of silence, causing both of his friends to worry slightly.

Suddenly Yuugi grabbed his backpack and ran past his best friends quick as lightning, without a word. Anzu and Joey both just stared at each other while Yuugi was long gone.

"Whaddaya' think he was doin' dat for?" Joey raised a brow.

"I don't know. I've never seen him do that either."

They both decided to run after him to make sure nothing bad happened. Yuugi was running with all the strength he had, it was at a time like this he really didn't like his heavy backpack. Once he reached the second floor, he looked out of a window and noticed Yami down at the bottom. Said teen was heading for the school gate rather quickly. Yuugi panicked for a second, thinking he'd not reach Yami in time. The young duelist looked over at an open window just beside him. He bit his lower lip to the thought of jumping out it just to speak with Yami.

He was terrified of heights, but figured that if he closed his eyes during the fall that it would be over in a matter of seconds. He mainly hated having his feet off the ground. It had nothing to do with falling. It was just an unpleasant sensation.

This would be over in a matter of seconds. At least that's what he told himself in order to jump. It didn't look that high either from his point of view.

"I sure hope all that math paid off, because according to my calculations I shouldn't suffer any injuries if I jumped from here down in the pile of bushes." He gathered courage before taking a huge leap of faith, yelling out "YAMI!" and hit the bushes with a loud scream.

Yami jumped up, frightened to the core by the unexpected loud scream and thud. He turned around rapidly but saw nothing and no one around.

"Holy flying fuck! W-What the hell was that?" he stuttered out loud in shock, completely petrified. He leaned down to look around the trees and under the branches for something. Maybe someone was playing a prank on him? If it was Marik and Bakura, he was about to teach them a lesson, however he found no one. He put his bag down on the ground so he could search more efficiently. The shout had to come from somewhere.

He was poking the bushes lightly when a hand emerged, grabbing on to his. He screamed yet again, falling straight on his back.

Suddenly Yuugi poked his head out of the bushes.

"Stupid math. Completely useless." He rubbed the back of his head with his fingers. He blamed math, yet he completely forgot to include that large backpack in his calculations. It surely didn't make the fall less vicious but it was over in a matter of seconds. Not too frightening. Yami was completely speechless. Had Yuugi just jumped out of the second floor to stop him from exiting the school grounds?

"Are you crazy? You could have gotten killed!" Yami yelled at him in fear. It was maybe a bit overly exaggerated, no one could die jumping out of the second floor but it wasn't safe at all.

"Oh, you care so much." Yuugi smiled. This was the first time the kid had been sarcastic and he didn't like it one bit. Sarcasm shouldn't be used when one almost fell on his head and caused a bloodbath. Yami calmed himself down, taking deep breaths as if he was the one who just jumped out of that tall building. He wiped the dirt off his jacket while he regained his composure.

"Why did you-?"

"Forgive me." Here he thought he couldn't get more shocked. Did forgiveness really mean this much to Yuugi and if so why did he want forgiveness from Yami? He really thought their roles should be reversed. Yami should be the one apologizing, for so much. Though, he would refuse from jumping out of the school just to seek forgiveness. A broken leg and cracked skull wasn't worth it.

"I shouldn't have lied to you. I'm sorry. The truth is I got beat up real badly. I just didn't want you to run off and try to beat up the bully like Joey had tried in the past, that didn't end well." He attempted to pull himself out of the bushes, only to get stuck on a few branches near the bottom, unable to move his legs. If Yuugi only realized what Yami had been up to that one day, he would regret his words. Wasn't it the least bit strange Ushio wasn't in school since yesterday?

Yami was still completely lost in this situation. He failed to comprehend what happened in about 30 seconds. A boy jumped out a window seeking forgiveness, which scared him to death. Sounds about as accurate as it could be.

Yuugi struggled to release himself from the bushes' grip. It was as if it didn't want to let go at all. He huffed in annoyance and still continued, persistently. Yami looked at the younger teen as he tried so desperately to pull away from the bushes' grasp.

Just when he thought he had the boy completely figured out, he shows Yami how wrong he is. Yuugi threw his backpack on the ground so he could focus on getting his leg freed from the annoying bush. It didn't help much, even with the heavy weight off his shoulders. He had no idea why he was still watching this. No matter how badly trapped the kid was, he didn't bother to ask for help, even if he obviously couldn't deal with the problem by himself.

Just as Yuugi was about to give up, he felt two strong arms wrap around his waist tightly, before pulling him out of the bushes. It surprised Yuugi that Yami had freed him successfully, with little to no effort on his part. The crimson-eyed teen placed Yuugi down on the ground firmly once they were a step or two away from the bushes. His arms were still wrapped around the shorter boy. For once, holding on to someone didn't feel as bad as it usually would, maybe it was because he was helping someone out, quite literally. Yuugi looked up at him and smiled sheepishly; somewhat completely embarrassed he had to receive help for such a silly thing.

"I-I-I could have sort of done that by myself."

That was it, Yami had met his superior, and he was far more stubborn than he could imagine.

"Looks can be deceiving, you're heavier than I thought you would be." Yami chuckled with a smile.

This was the first time Yuugi witnessed him having such a sincere smile. It was almost unbelievable. Yami let Yuugi go and waved him goodbye as he went to pick up his bag. That's when Yuugi first realized what Yami had told him. The smile sort of temporarily shut down his brain.

"Heavier than what you- WHAT?" He still forced himself to understand what happened. Then again, he couldn't forget the fact Yami said he was heavier than he thought he would be.  
"You think about people's weight?" was something he wanted to ask, though Yami didn't give him enough time to do so.

"See you tomorrow!" The smile was still visible even from a distance.

Yuugi was sitting on the ground on his knees completely confused over what to reply. He was still focusing on Yami's smile and what made him act so nice. Suddenly he realized he had to say something. If not, he'd just look silly.

"Uh, Yeah! Tomorrow! B-bye!" He said waving awkwardly, while blushing. He sat there for an amount of seconds before Joey and Anzu accompanied him. They began to shake him violently because they saw how he jumped out of the second floor. Joey noticed how Yami had grabbed Yuugi a moment ago and asked if he had hurt him in any way shape or form… so he could receive punishment. It's as if the blonde only wanted excuses for violence. Yuugi tried to calm Joey down and tell him Yami only helped him, but it didn't seem to work. Anzu sighed. Well, did Yami apologize at last or had something completely different happened? She had to ask him tomorrow morning. Even if Yami was harmless, he still needed to apologize, regardless of what Yuugi had said to him.

Meanwhile Yami was walking home in laughter.

"You have to be kidding! He really is persistent." Tears almost formed in his crimson eyes. Silence struck when he turned around to look back at Domino high. The jump, the smile, the entire scenario just kept repeating itself in his head. He still couldn't figure out why Yuugi was so nice. Maybe it was just how people were like in Japan?

Anzu had a different opinion of him too when he refused to take Yuugi's note back. Just maybe, these people were different than the ones he'd encountered earlier.

He walked down the same path he always takes and headed for the park. His head was still clouded with these thoughts, the thoughts of maybe becoming friends with all of them at some point. Becoming friends with Anzu, Honda, Joey and Yuugi.

"I'm beginning to like this guy." He tapped his school bag slightly out of amusement, still thinking back at when Yuugi jumped out the window.

"Crazy innocent kid." He sighed with that smile still visible on his face.

_"It wasn't worth it… It really wasn't."_

* * *

Once he stepped into the house Atem was concerned. The tanned teen was minding his own business all up until he saw his little brother enter the house.

"Yami! Are you all right?" Atem shook his brothers shoulders to get a response out of him quicker.

"Uh…yes?" Yami was a bit puzzled over why his brother would shake his shoulders or even ask him if he was fine.

"You were smiling. That's why. I was worried. Seriously worried." Atem joked.

"I wha?" Yami didn't even notice he'd been smiling all the way home. Atem asked him if something special happened or if he heard some good news.

"Oh, pf… Just some random stuff…" failing to mention the kid who jumped out the window. He gripped his bag tightly as he noticed he was almost late for the great tournament. Atem wondered why Yami was excited about coming to Japan, only to realize his favorite game was played here regularly often. Duel monsters.

He even had the cards in Egypt. However, they were all in English and Arabic. The new cards here were all in the Japanese language. He had to look up the cards on a site to make sure he knew what they did before putting them in his deck.

Eventually, Yami rushed down the stairs with a duel disk on his arm. He had quickly changed out of his school uniform and back into the leather outfit he so dearly loved.

"Looks?" Yami asked his brother while turning around, so he could have a good view. Atem only rolled his eyes at the question.

"Fix your hair instead of your clothes." Yami suddenly realized his hair was still a huge mess since this morning. He really should go and fix it. Then again, fixing the hair-issue would only mean less time for dueling, great dilemma indeed.

"Oh screw my hair, no time for that. It's a hopeless case. I just wanted your opinion on the pants." He threw the leather jacket over his shoulder and ran out, waving his brother goodbye with a smile. Atem gripped the doorknob while he was looking at his younger brother vanish in the city of Domino. Even if this wasn't his hometown, he acted as if he'd been here for ages. The school, the city, he already seemed too familiar with it, while Atem couldn't handle it at all. The fact Yami could deal with such a huge change better than Atem, terrified the older one greatly.

"He's creepy when he smiles like that…" Atem shivered, wondering what on earth could change Yami's mood so drastically from this morning. He shrugged the thought of himself while he closed the door. Unlike Yami, Atem didn't have many worries to think of. The only thing on his mind was if the phone would ever ring. Next time their parents called he'd ask them for their number so he wouldn't have to wait for them to call all the time.

Yami had been dueling random opponents to knock them out of the tournament and obtain their so-called star chips to proceed to the finals. He was dueling to obtain one of the most powerful cards of all time, one of the three Egyptian god cards.

He heard that a single God card could crush any duelist imaginable. He really wanted to get his hands on at least one before going back to Egypt. These sort of things, tournaments, were never held in Egypt, might as well enjoy it while one can. The quicker he could gain 10 star chips, the better. It sure wouldn't be easy seeing how almost everyone was dueling for the cards. The entire city was filled with duelists. that's probably why they called it Battle City. He wandered around aimlessly, looking for a new opponent. Everyone seemed to step away from him for some reason. He had dueled a few opponents and perhaps he just crushed them a bit too much. He wondered if he honestly scared away most duelists because of the way he dueled or if it was because of his outfit.

Suddenly a familiar voice was heard uttering his name in slight surprise. He looked around but saw no one near him that he recognized. Was it just imagination?

"YAMI!" Another more familiar voice yelled. He couldn't help but to chuckle, it was easy to recognizing this voice, definitely. The city was huge, so he began to scan the area to see exactly where the sound came from.

Eventually, he turned to his right and walked close to a café where Yuugi was standing waving at him. It surprised Yami to see Seto Kaiba exited with a few drinks for him and the rest of the guys. So there were more of them also dueling in this tournament?

_"Who knew these guys were duelists?"_ Yami wondered, while smiling a bit as he gladly walked over to the others.

"What's up with him?" Kaiba asked, as he raised a brow, because he never saw Yami look so optimistic.

"I'm more confused ova' wat's up with those clothes." Joey said eyeing Yami from top to toe. His outfit looked rather black and less colorful than the school uniform or the clothes he usually wore to school. Perhaps that was also a factor to take into consideration when wondering why everyone had stepped away from him. In Joey's opinion he looked like a thug ready to beat down all three of them, the most optimistic thug around right now. Yuugi seemed to notice his friend's concerned expression and had to step in.

"I think he looks just fine."

They both just uttered a silent "Meh." while walking back inside. Yami had finally reached the café. He placed both his hands firmly on his hips and asked Yuugi a simple question.

"So you're dueling here too?" Yuugi nodded.

"You can join us inside the cafe." Yami didn't seem to protest. Though he did notice the looks Joey gave him earlier, along with Seto. Could he really? After all the things he's said and done? Could he remain content during the entire time he was here without insulting anyone just out of bad habit?

"Hmm…" The smile on his face was vanishing slowly as his head got clouded with more thoughts.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all?


	3. It's time to duel!

Yami had successfully dueled all three of his classmates in the finals and won.

Joey lost to Yami's Dark Magician Girl, while Kaiba lost to his Celtic Guardian. Yuugi and Yami's match would have been a draw if Yami didn't activate Magic Cylinder in just the right time.

Their Dark Magicians were about to destroy each other, giving Yuugi the upper hand once he was able to summon his own Dark Magician Girl that he still had in his deck, while Yami's was in the graveyard due to 'Card Destruction'.

All in all, the three of them put up a pretty good fight. Pegasus handed Yami one of the three God cards once he defeated all the players required.

On the card was a red dragon with two mouths. Its attack power was apparently determined by the amount of cards the holder had in hand. It was a risky tactic to go by but also rewarding. Kaiba Corporation worked together with Pegasus on this game called Duel Monsters, but not even Kaiba was allowed to mess with these cards.

The God cards were made by Pegasus himself and were specially designed. Kaiba had to earn one 'fair', in a duel, for the championship _if_ he wanted one that badly. That's why he was also dueling in this tournament. Usually he would not allow himself to duel "nobody's" unless it was to gain something of great value.

They explained that a tournament was held each week, on Friday, to see who would acquire one of the 3 Egyptian God cards. Once the God cards had been won, the three people holding the cards would duel each other in chance of wielding all three of them. After all, the cards were most powerful when used together. The tournament would be held every Friday for about a month. It began at 17.00 and ended around midnight, at latest.

Anyone who did not obtain enough star-chips (10) by then was disqualified automatically. Yami had signed up for the tournament long ago but was no longer allowed to compete, since a new winner had to be chosen, in order for the championship to take place. There were 3 God cards to be won, so naturally, there needed to be 3 winners. The 3 winners would face each other in a final duel, once all God cards were won. The winner of those duels would gain all 3 God cards.

They were now back at the Café, talking mostly about Duel Monsters and their strategies. Yami found the most annoying thing about Kaiba's strategy being the Crush Card Virus and the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons he just would not stop summoning to the field.

"Overpowered junk." He cursed to himself. Especially, since Kaiba did not have to make any sacrifices most of the times, because of the spell card "Ancient Rules." It allowed him to special summon a normal monster above level 5. Yami used that card as well for his Dark Magician, but he never assumed Kaiba had 3 of them in his deck. First turn, 2 Blue-Eyes on the field. Not a good start, yet he still somehow managed to beat them.

Joey had become more respectful towards Yami since he didn't look like a bad duelist at all. Joey admired strong duelists, except for Kaiba. He had almost forgotten all the nasty remarks Yami made yesterday, and the day before that. Yami thanked the Gods for Joey's lack of memory. He really didn't want to be mean to these people anymore. They didn't deserve it. All his defenses were almost down, just almost.

Yuugi was still a problem to him. Even if the boy had been friendly the whole time, Yami couldn't help but to feel bad because he had not apologized yet.

Instead he felt worse, since the kid apologized to him. It was still amusing now that he thought about it. That jump out the window wasn't something you would ever see in Egypt. He hoped Yuugi was not hurt.

"Are you all right?" Yami asked all of a sudden.

The lavender-eyed teen took a sip of his drink before answering Yami's question.

"You mean the jump I made from the second floor?"

Kaiba looked down at Yuugi in confusion and disbelief, while putting his own drink down. "You…What?" They all knew about his fright of high places, so the fact Yuugi decided to jump out a window surprised all of them. This was also the main reason Anzu and Joey freaked out so much. The blonde teen turned to Kaiba to snap him out of his thoughts.

"YEH. Stupid I kno'."

Yuugi glared at his friend, mildly annoyed at that remark. He was completely unharmed. Yami had helped him up and it was not as if he was going to commit suicide or anything alike. Well, It probably did look like that now that he thought more about it. Seto must have misunderstood the situation because he started chuckling lightly. Yuugi thought back at that moment and remembered Yami's comment before he said goodbye. The young teen blushed faintly at that memory, wondering what on earth Yami was trying to say with that. "Well… I'm not _that _heavy…" He thought and fiddled with the straw in his drink.

"YUUGI." Yami waved his hand in front of said child's face.

"Uh. YES?" He snapped back and changed his view to focus on Yami.

"Are you ok?"

"No." Yami scanned the small teen from top to bottom, to see if he had any other bruises, a bit worried he might actually be harmed from that fall.

"I sort of cracked my head open the minute I fell out the window." He said with a soft laugh. Yami crossed his legs, and looked away rather expressionlessly. Why did he suddenly decide to act so sarcastic?

"Oh. Well, you don't duel half bad without a head then." The remark earned him a few laughs from his other classmates. He didn't exactly know what this feeling was. The uneasy air and aura that surrounded him earlier just seemed to be lifted for a brief moment. The negativity vanished somewhere far away. The only thing that filled the room now, was everyone's laughter and the smell of fresh tea. Joey, who sat next to Yami, leaned closer and patted him on the back harshly, making Yami leap forward and bump into the table quite a bit.

_"This man can hurt someone with his happiness! Ow!"_ Yami thought, while positioning himself back comfortably in the chair.

"You betta' teach me sum of dat epic dueling strategy, Yami." He said while grinning, showing all his sparkling teeth. Yami got nervous for a moment. He didn't really mind any of them but physical-contact was still a problem. He disliked when others touched him so suddenly. Especially people he didn't really know.

"Uh…" No clue as of what to say, but there was no harm in trying.

"Grasp the basics first, Joey." He wanted to slap himself after that comment. He was waiting for a rage-storm and yelling but, instead, was greeted by laughter.

"Haha! Good one, Yami! That better put the mutt in his place!" Joey's attention was fixed on Kaiba, and he started to argue with the green-eyed rich kid once again, saying how he was such a_ better_ duelist than Kaiba could ever dream of. Yami sighed in relief. Joey wasn't upset, just like everyone else. They all thought it was a joke.

Yuugi seemed to notice how tensed Yami was, so he decided to vanquish some of the stress that filled the air.

"Any favorite cards, Yami? Other than the Dark Magician?" Yami was at ease by the question. They could finally talk about something harmless. Still, he was a bit in his own world. It seemed like he was ignoring Yuugi when in fact he was pondering different thoughts in his head. He was, so to speak, a complete mess. Others could easily notice that he was not paying attention.

"Uhm…equip spells or continuous spells? Which one do you prefer?" Yuugi asked more clearly, giving him an easy question to answer. The time was about 21.00 and Yami was already exhausted. Jetlag probably still had an affect on him. His expression turned dimmer, as if he did not want to reply to the questions asked.

_"I wonder how long I'll stay here..."_ He simply continued to stare at the clock in the café, giving Yuugi the impression he didn't really enjoy their company, but was more likely waiting for it to end. Yuugi lowered his head and messed with the straw in his drink.

"Was it something I said?" The mumbling was loud enough for Yami to overhear and reply to quickly.

"Excuse me. I wasn't really paying attention. I'm tired, so I think I'll leave you all for now." He pushed his chair out and stretched his arms forward before waving everyone goodbye.

"Wait up!" Yuugi replied while placing his drink down, and following Yami to the exit.

"Bye guys! See you tomorrow!" He waved at Kaiba and Joey.  
"See ya." Yami waved as well, trying to sound more natural. Kaiba was probably the only one who was not convinced by his friendly gesture. He noticed it was rather forced.

"Whatever." Kaiba waved back, regardless of how pointless he thought it was. One duel could not make him like Yami right off the bat, but he was impressed with his dueling strategies.

"Bai Yug!" Joey waved as well with a grin, before facing Seto again and continuing to argue about how '_not_' to duel like an asshole.

Yami didn't expect Yuugi to follow him home but it was obvious it would occur. They lived close by, and it was late, he probably followed along just to be safe. Yami wondered why those two guys at the cafe even spend time together if all they do is argue. It seemed as if Yuugi read his mind.

"They tend to argue a lot. Don't worry, it's just how they communicate." Yami was a bit confused. Friends were not supposed to insult each other. Even if he had no understanding of how friendship worked, he could grasp the basics of it.

"Aren't friends supposed to be, well…-" Yami couldn't seem to get the words out. Was he really going to have a chat about friendship when he honestly did not know what friendship was all about?

Seems like he needed one of Anzu's encouraging speeches right about now. His vocabulary just shut down, all he was able to say was in the form of "Um" and "Eh".

English was no longer a language. To him, it was a code. A code he could not decipher in this moment. The only words that came to mind were in Arabic and he had no idea how to translate them to English. Yuugi was amused at Yami's inability to speak clearly for a moment and smiled. Yami placed his hand over his forehead feeling a mild headache coming up from thinking and from Yuugi's smiles. Those smiles appeared to be very frequent whenever Yami would act like a dork.

_"Curse that smile. It's not making things easier." _He covered his eyes, so he was less likely to accidentally meet Yuugi's gaze. However, he continued to walk just fine. The short teen was patiently waiting for him to finish his sentence, while Yami already forgot what he was trying to say. He tried to come up with something different until he heard Yuugi call him.

"Yami, watch out!" Said teen lightly bumped into a streetlight, and looked up in surprise. It had not hurt but it was slightly startling.

"I know you're tired but you can't sleepwalk in the middle of the street."

_"Stop smiling for the love of the Egyptian gods. You're making things harder than what they're supposed to be."_ He rubbed his forehead since it had just collided with the streetlight. What could possibly make him this unable to speak around someone so kind? Should that not make things simpler?

It seemed to be easier to talk to Anzu, Joey or even Kaiba. The thoughts of asking for forgiveness now entered his head. Maybe now? Yuugi was still waiting for a reply from Yami but got none.

"Well, my grandpa's game shop is just up ahead. I'll see you in school, I guess. Bye." Yuugi waved at him while he headed towards the game shop.

_"Say something!"_ This was the only moment they'd probably get to be alone for a while and it was the right opportunity to ask for forgiveness. A burden could be lifted off his chest at last.

"Yuugi, hang on a second." The shorter one stopped walking and turned around, tilting his head to the side.

"Did you remember what you were going to ask?"

Yami messed with his golden bangs for a while. Slowly sliding his fingers through his silky, curly hair. Wait, curly?

_"Wow Atem wasn't kidding, my hair is a mess." _He quickly dropped that thought to focus on the actual conversation he was trying to have. Sidetracking was easy if you were Yami. There was so much that had to be done and said. One simple word such as "Sorry" could solve all the problems, yet it was so hard to say.

His stubbornness, when it involved this word, was the main reason he moved to Japan in the first place.

"Well?" Yuugi asked, still patiently waiting for a reply.

"You see…-" He walked closer to Yuugi, trying to step forward and beg for forgiveness as politely as possible. Once he stepped closer, a nervous feeling consumed him. Yuugi was completely harmless, but that was exactly the point. Yami did not know how to handle these sorts of people. This kid was too happy, too positive, out of any reasonable-bound optimistic and just too…cute.

How could you talk to such a person without making a complete fool out of yourself? Without thinking he gave Yuugi a quick answer before feeling the urge to run away. It was just one word, but one word he could live without.

"I know we had a bit of fun today, but Duel Monsters will be all we ever talk about." Yami walked past him, expressionless. Yuugi's smiling face had vanished and instead, was replaced with worry.

"Wait, what do you mean?" He asked, while grabbing Yami's shoulder before he had the time to walk through the park. Yami simply shrugged and pulled away, before taking a shortcut home through Domino Park. This all happened so very quickly, too quickly for the young duelist to comprehend in fact.

Yuugi's grandpa exited the game shop and greeted his grandson back from the tournament with open arms. Nothing could make him happier than to hug his talented grandchild, after a hard day's work. He was eager to see if Yuugi had won any new cards. To his surprise the kid seemed to be focusing on something else, other than the game shop, for a change.

"Hm, Yuugi, is something the matter?" His grandpa called from the open door. Yuugi's eyes shifted to focus on his grandpa instead. Yami was long gone into Domino Park and there was no need to stay outside anymore.

"No, nothing." Yuugi smiled as he ran inside to hug the old man. They closed the door and started to talk about the tournament right away. Yuugi grabbed his backpack firmly; ready to show his grandpa the new cards he'd won at the tournament. He didn't like the fact you had to bet a card in the game since many players lost their favorite cards but it was a big tournament after all. Besides, he claimed a lot of good cards he wouldn't have ever came across otherwise. Joey even won a Red-Eyes Black Dragon to match Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. As soon as Joey had got his hands on that card, he wanted to challenge Kaiba to a big duel, yet only for it to end in failure. Kaiba told Joey what Yuugi's grandpa Solomon had told him in the past. Kaiba may have done it a bit more to mock, instead of help, but they basically said the same thing, to be patient and trust in the heart of the cards. That was the key to becoming a real strong duelist.

After the old man was done reading and looking through the cards he allowed Yuugi to go upstairs. It was currently 21.40.

Yuugi walked up the stairs and stepped inside his room, closing the door slowly. His grandpa could finally fall asleep calmly since he was worried his grandson would not come home. He is simply a bit too overprotective sometimes. Dealing with bullies in the past also didn't help calm him down. He could be relaxed once he knew Yuugi was with Joey, because there was no way that guy would ever let Yuugi down.

Yuugi took a look at his desk and messed around with a few papers until he found a note. The note he'd given Yami before but got thrown back at him.

"Hmmm…" He picked it up and scanned the text through. Was there something wrong with it? Or was there another reason Yami had returned it in such a way?

Maybe Yuugi accidentally made him miss a class or two. After all, he'd only gone from memory of what the schedule used to look like.

He tried to remember all the classes written down, and he spotted no flaws in his schedule, at least not compared to the note they got yesterday. He did however stumble across a few scribbles he didn't leave on the note.

It was X's and messy lines drawn over some of the words. The words had then been re-written above the actual sentence in a different handwriting spelled differently, or more like, correctly.

Yuugi had to take the notes fast because he needed to write them down for himself as well, so he did not mind to check the spelling, however Yami seemed to have a lot of free time on his hands so he had corrected Yuugi's mistakes for him.

"Grammar Nazi." He mumbled to himself, folding the note together in the process with a pout. He didn't understand. What was making Yami act like this?

"Why do I even bother?" He then thought back on how horrible his first days at Domino were. He did not get help from anyone even if he tried desperately. He felt alone and unwanted. The first couple of days were really hard to pull through. Bullies, new people, the regular stuff anyone would not want in a school or felt uncomfortable with, he really didn't want Yami to experience the same fate.

That was the main reason he wanted to get closer to him, another was because he really taught Yami was a good person on the inside. That smile practically confirmed it. Once he just relaxed, he was a nice person.

Later on, Anzu got put in the same class as Yuugi. It was easier to talk to someone who he knew since childhood days.

Once Joey and Honda also became his friends, he seemed a lot happier in Domino High.

Bullies were still a problem to this day, however the number had dwindled since they never attacked him when he was alongside his friends. He could not have done anything without them in his opinion. They had shared so many moments and taught him so much.

That was all he wanted Yami to realize, that friends would give one encouragement to stand up to others and learn. It had helped Yuugi in the past with bullies, where he and Joey teamed up to defeat the brutes. Yuugi really disliked violence, but if it came to the worst possible situation he'd defend himself. He tapped the note lightly against the corner of his dark-brown desk, staring out the window.

"He was so nice a moment ago. Maybe he just doesn't like _me_?" he shook his head at the possible answer.

"I can't think like that. I'll have to ask him why he's been acting weird first thing Monday morning." He sat down on his bed and picked up a thick book about the size of his head, then lied down in his bed, flipped through a couple of pages.

After such little time, boredom decided to pay him a visit. Reading was entertaining, it was something he'd always do when he went to bed, so why was it that this time, he couldn't manage to concentrate? Yuugi decided to go take a walk just for a few minutes. The fresh air would bring him a temporary feeling of peace.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yami had arrived at his and Atem's home completely devastated, sulking out loud.

He looked as if he merely had about 24 hours to live before wandering off and joining the dead. Yami closed the door very silently, likewise slowly, while pushing his body against it once it was completely shut. Atem noticed how dejected his brother looked and wondered what could have washed off that happy face in a short period of time.

Atem was, once again, in the kitchen. This time, he was baking different sorts of pastries. He carefully walked up to his younger brother while blowing the flour off his arms and shoulders.

"Well, that escalated quickly." Atem said, looking at his brother's figure that was leaning against the door, not even paying attention.

"I am seriously concerned for your psyche. What on earth can make you turn frustratingly worried, happy and then sad in a matter of hours?" He placed both hands on his hips and looked at his brother with mild curiosity, expecting an answer. There was absolutely no reply from Yami. Atem nudged his brother slightly to wake him up.

"Oi, Earth to Yami. Are you listening?" Atem didn't realize that Yami could not hear him. He was in his own world, thinking, wondering, why had he turned down the opportunity to seek forgiveness? Did it really mean nothing to him? Wrong, It meant a lot. It was the fear of rejection that was clouding his mind, the fear that Yuugi might not forgive him. What human would? Even if it was completely illogical to think so, Yami was still having doubts and as long as those doubts existed, he would not manage to say he was sorry.  
_"I messed up."_

The pale teen turned around to walk up the stairs but was stopped when Atem grabbed his right arm.

"You know you can tell me anything. Come on, I know we usually do not talk a lot but I _am_ your brother." Yami rolled his eyes to that comment, thinking his big brother would get the point, though the tanned teen only turned annoyed at that facial expression. He let go of Yami and pointed towards the stairs.

"FINE! I don't care! Go if you really want to, I could care less!" It came out like a bad habit again.

"Couldn't." Yami corrected his brother.

"Which reminds me, screw your English!" Atem said furiously before stomping his way back into the kitchen, to finish off whatever he was busy with. Yami was left alone near the staircase, which lead to the second floor. He looked at the steps and how they continued up farther. He could go to his room, sleep the day off and feel horrible about it for the next couple of days. Then, go through the same routine on Monday morning.  
_"I need to go back there. I need to set things straight. Enough is enough. I can't take another minute of this… mental torture."_

"…Fine. I'll go," He mumbled and dropped his duel disk, then turned around to face the door. His brother almost jumped at him from the kitchen.

"W-Wait a minute. Where are you going in the middle of the night? Do you think I am going to allow this? I did not mean _go_ as in, 'leave the house'. I meant upstairs."

It was futile for Atem to even attempt to stop his brother. He had already made up his mind and was running in a quick speed to the park. Atem could only sigh to whatever actions his brother took. He walked over to the door and closed it.

"Do not expect me to wait up for you. If you forgot your key it is your own fault, and you are sleeping outside." He spoke as if Yami could actually hear him. He shut the door and looked over at the messy kitchen.

"I could _really_ use a hand every now and then, but asking him would be like talking to a brick wall. Except the brick wall would at least be unable to move, and keep me company."

* * *

Domino Park looked quite dim and tinted with a dark, pale cyan color. Its peaceful aura stayed around even at the darkest of nights. Some yellow lights were shining in the far distance, most probably from streetlamps.

Yami had wandered around, looking for a safe spot to sit in and think, though the park seemed to be occupied with a lot of drunks and couples. He knew better than to head out a late Friday night, but what was he supposed to do at home?

"Calls. Apologies. Explanations. I wish someone just tore those words out of every dictionary in existence. I honestly have no idea what to do anymore." He muttered to himself, while kicking a small rock on the ground and continuing the stroll, slowly.

Still no safe spot to stay at, and it was not easy with all the weird looking people around. They all gave Yami odd looks and snickered or whispered. He was not Japanese, so trying to eavesdrop and understand their conversation was impossible. Instead, he tried to walk away to where there were no people around. He only walked deeper into the park, encountering more suspicious looking thugs and people. The night had fallen, and he really didn't feel safe in Domino anymore.

At daytime, he could get around, but once darkness fell, it was time to go home. Darkness was not creepy. Darkness was fairly pretty. Darkness was beautiful when viewed from a safe distance, at home. The moonlight was making everything shimmer in a dark blue aura. It was truly wonderful, then again, from a safe distance. In darkness you could not see who was coming or going, from any direction. It just occurred to Yami that walking around at night, in this area, where _no one_ knew where he was, could be fairly dangerous. He did not even have a phone with him, or any sort of weapon to defend himself, if he would get attacked. Maybe he was over exaggerating, but it still did not feel safe.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea…" He resorted to messing with his bangs out of boredom and worry. A warm breeze flew by, creating a soothing mood, even if the people around were far from soothing. He heard people mutter things in, what he thought was, Japanese. What else would it be? He heard more and more noises the deeper he walked into the forest. As soon as the voices had turned into screams he decided that- "All right, it's time to leave."

Yami quickly put his jacket on and turned back only to be stopped by, what seemed to be, a couple that was arguing. A very heavy bald man was yelling as if his life depended on it. He wore a black vest that was ripped apart at the top and a pair of floppy jeans. The girl was dressed in a short white top and black tight leggings. Her hands were located firmly on her mouth and her posture was somewhat insecure, while the taller male stood looking down at her, as if she were his prey. Yami didn't understand any of the words they yelled, but could obviously see that the man was not in a reasonable state. His voice was rather hoarse as if he'd been screaming for a very long time, and his eyes were lightly red, either from crying or drinking.

The woman he was with seemed terrified and was crying her eyes out yelling one single word in Japanese. Something Yami could not understand, but still heard loud and clear. "Gomenasai." She was either screaming for help or trying to reason with the other person.

The male swung his arms around aimlessly, making it impossible for Yami to even step closer or pass them to get back home.

The air was getting thicker, as the brutal man turned to look at Yami, finally acknowledging the young ones presence. He muttered something in Japanese and waved his fist at him.

Yami notice the piercing eyes that hit him like daggers, and stepped back quietly. This was something he was not good at, explanations.

"... I'm, sort of, only here for a walk," Yami said, getting very worried that the man would not understand his English.

Even worse, what if the man suddenly decided to fight? Sure, Ushio was a tough guy too, but Yami had a lighter beside him at that point. He could not possibly take this guy out by himself. The man was way older than Ushio and heavier. Kicking this one around would be a challenge, if he ever attempted. The crimson-eyed teen put his hands up, while slowly stepping backwards as the older man got even closer, his eyes narrowing in fury.

"Look, I'm only here for a walk. You can calm down." Yami attempted to communicate with the brute, but was shocked when the man pulled out a sharp knife. Was it all right to throw the word 'calm' out of the dictionary at this point?

"Hell!" He yelled out before turning around to run away. The man was definitely a drunk, that, or batshit crazy.

The big heavy man grabbed Yami's jacket with one arm and pulled him down on the ground with ease before the teen could even take a step further. The man then stepped on Yami's chest, preventing him from any movement or even breathing.

_"Shit! I knew I shouldn't have left the house!"_

He was trying to kick the tall man away. However, his kicks did not seem to have any effect. So instead, he used his arms, trying to push the man's leg away. Though, that proved to be just as useless. Wasted effort.

This man was far too strong to be moved by a mere child no matter how strong that child was. He laughed out loud at Yami's failed attempts to get free. Yami tried to shrug his jacket off so the man would not have a grip on him but not even that seemed to work while being pinned down on his back. The girl had long ago left the scene. They probably were not a couple after all, or even if they were, it would only be natural that she'd run away, this man was out of his mind.

"LET GO!" Yami yelled as loud as he could, hopefully someone who cared would hear the call for help. Not even fazed by Yami's screaming, the man held the knife up above his head, as if he was going to stab a stranger right through the eye. Was this really happening?

Yami covered up his face in hope that the crazy man stabbed one of his arms instead. He shut his eyes, too terrified to look up at his foe and just hoped for the best. A voice in his head was slowly giving him the impression of _"You're about to die."_ Regret filled his heart. He should have never left Egypt. No, he did not want to. Not if he knew this would happen.

Soon a loud "OF!" was heard. Yami felt the touch of a sharp object falling on his forearm lightly, before then continuing on to the ground. He also for some reason heard the thud of another object but could not identify exactly what it was. The man's tight grip on his jacket had loosened and he fell down.

"Yami!" a familiar voice called out from a distance. He knew exactly who it was even if the voice was faint. He pulled himself up, away from the man who was now on his knees, holding his bleeding eye with both palms. Yami was a bit stunned, what could have hurt him like that when no one else was close by? Soon, a hand gripped Yami from behind. A strong warm pulse moved through his arm once he felt the other persons touch. It felt different. It was comforting.

"Yuugi? What a-"

"Talk later, run _NOW_!" He yelled while pulling Yami along.

They both started running faster once they noticed the drunk had pulled himself back up and grabbed the knife to chase the teens. They ran deeper into the park, trying to hide amongst the many trees. Hopefully the darkness would shield them for a while.

"How did you manage to-" Yami panted heavily, he was not in for exercise this late. Then again, exercise overall was not fun, not in this tired state.

"I picked up a large and sharp enough rock, then tossed it at him, full-speed." Yami raised a brow.

"No way, from _THAT_ distance?"

"It's amazing how great your aim can turn out over the years, when you use these things as weapons against bullies." Yuugi seemed to be equally as tired but why was he even here?

They needed to find a place to hide quickly. Otherwise, the man would easily catch up. Soon, they heard someone approaching and rushed even deeper into their oh-so beloved park. How could they manage to get themselves in this situation? Yami held Yuugi's hand tightly as they escaped from the insane man.

He refused to let go of Yuugi even if Yuugi himself tried to let go of Yami's hand. The younger one knew the park better since he came to play here as a kid very often. He wanted to run ahead of Yami and guide them to an exit, but the taller one of them seemed to know exactly where he was going.

"Up. Quick!" He pointed at a very tall tree once they stopped running. Yuugi's jaw dropped. He could feel it. They were going to get caught right now because an argument would form. He could not agree, and he knew Yami was stubborn; they might as well give up.

"I-I-I can't! Let's just run towards the exit!" Yami pulled Yuugi closer so he would not run off on his own. The situation was far from shocking, it was fatal, and there was no time for disputes.

"-And let him follow us home so our families are put in danger as well? FUCK NO! UP!" Yami started climbing up the tree and reached his hand out to Yuugi once he sat comfortably on a thick branch, out of eyesight for anyone who would pass by. Yuugi simply shook his head. Yami was not aware of the fact Yuugi did not like heights.

"I really can't Yami! You don't understand-" This was not the time for argument. This was not the time to _finally_ bite back. It was the time to just give in, like all other times. Even if this were the last time, just this once, he would like Yuugi to do as he says Whether or not Yuugi would hate him after this did not matter to him, his priority was to make sure the two of them got out of this _alive_, and hopefully unharmed. He continued asking for the boy to climb up with him but only got rejected. Yuugi did not seem to think staying there would be a good idea. That was it. This had to stop. If they were going to sit here and argue, they were going to get caught instantly. The last comment Yuugi made simply sent Yami off the edge, figuratively. It was the breaking point of his sanity and the part where he _really_ started to worry for someone else's life this much.

"You can't force me!"

"THE HELL I CAN!" He grabbed on to Yuugi's arms and pulled him up to his lap with all the force he had.

"You're not exactly lightweight, it would have been easier if you just helped yourself up!" As soon as Yami had pulled Yuugi on to his lap, the boy grabbed Yami by the waist, and pulled himself closer tightly when he saw the great distance separating them from the ground.

"Yami! Yami! I can't handle this height! Let's just run!" he cried, bit his lower-lip and shut his eyes. Yami was surprised to say the least. Someone who could defend him in a dangerous situation, like the one 10 minutes ago was now helplessly clinging on to him, all because he was afraid of heights? What happened to the kid who had jumped out the window with courage?

"Yuugi, Calm down, you're shaking like crazy." Yuugi pleaded for Yami to put him down but his words meant nothing. Yami shushed him every time, telling him that if he did not stay quiet that the wicked man would get both of them. Yuugi's grip tightened on Yami and he started sobbing. He refused to even open his eyes. It was not the fall he was afraid of, but the feeling of being off the ground.

"Y-Yami! Let me g-go!" He was practically quivering in fear.

_"Let YOU go? You're the one holding on to me!"_

That really did not seem like the right thing to say in this moment. Yuugi was obviously very frightened, and he did not need to make the situation worse by being a jerk. Especially not since it was his fault Yuugi was in this position to begin with. Normal people would probably not get involved in this sort of situation.

_"Why would you save me?"_ were his exact thoughts. He had to repay Yuugi somehow and he decided he'd do that by making sure they were both safe from the crazy drunk. Yuugi was still shaking in fear regardless of what Yami would tell him. Whether it was fear from the height or the crazy man, he did not know. What he did know, was that he needed to calm him down or things would come to a horrible end.

"I won't let anything happen to you, I promise! Just hold on to me." Those words did not seem to comfort Yuugi much sadly. This was not about safety. It seemed to lie deeper than just a mere fright.

Yami was sure now that he officially had made Yuugi cry his eyes out, but again, that was the least of their problems.

Yami could hear footsteps in the distance, they kept getting louder and louder. He tried to calm Yuugi down but all his attempts seemed utterly useless.

Yuugi started speaking in Japanese for some reason. Rapid and random Japanese Yami could not understand. Yuugi resembled the woman who had done the same thing a while ago, so defenseless and fragile. He felt horrible, like a part of him wanted to rewind time and allow Yuugi to guide them outside. Seeing him cry and break down like this because of something he did wrong was horrifying. Yami could not stand it anymore. Being rude was the last resort. That was the one and only option now. It was far too late to act differently.

"Damn it! Shut up if you want to **live**, idiot!" He grabbed Yuugi and pulled him into his arms burying the younger ones face in his chest to mute the sobbing. Yuugi was in shock. He was still shaking in fear but at least there were no sounds now.

This situation. This wicked situation would not even have occurred if he had just apologized from the start. He held Yuugi even tighter in his arms. Never had he comforted anyone in his entire life, nor did he have any experience with it, but he knew one thing that would at least make this situation less tragic. Safety. He had to protect Yuugi. For all it was worth, he could not allow Yuugi to get hurt because of him. No, once was enough, it should not even have happened that one time, either. As he held Yuugi, he noticed the uneasy feeling of touch was gone. It was as if it'd vanished in thin air. To his surprise Yuugi did not seem to react to anything, he was silent.

"I will not allow anything to happen to you. Trust me." Yami tried to calm him down by gently rubbing his back. He really didn't want Yuugi to get caught up in this situation too. It was bad enough he'd put him in tight spots such as jumping out that one window, which made this situation seem less likely to happen, yet here they were. Hiding.

_"How much more shit am I going to put you through?"_ Yami thought to himself as he kept a close eye on the ground.

"Don't move." His whisper seemed to calm the boy down somewhat…

Grumbling and random sounds could be heard. Heavy breathing and somewhat slow footsteps. The footsteps would stop at a point and then continue to wander around randomly. Circling the entire area, until they slowly faded away into a completely different direction.

After a few minutes the only thing that was heard was the wind breeze and the sound of leaves rustling. They sat there for a while just to make sure the man would not return. Yami was keeping a tight grip on Yuugi the entire time. He wondered if his doppelganger's heart was beating equally as quick in that moment as his was.

Yuugi had been awfully silent, way too silent. Yami took a look down in his arms, slowly moving aside from the kid. Yuugi had finally opened his eyes, though he could not see anything because of the tears streaming down his cheeks.

A terrible feeling hit Yami when he looked at what he'd caused. He had never wanted to see the boy's cheerful smile so badly all up until now.

He thought he'd always see Yuugi smiling happily no matter what. For all the things Yami had said and done, for all of it, there was still that… smile.

That image had now been smashed into pieces and what was left, was this. Yuugi tried to look up at him, while rubbing the tears away. Yami could imagine it, a solid question of 'why' being formed. Why had he done this? What was the purpose? Why could they not run for it and risk everything?

He slowly reached out for Yuugi's hand and held it tightly. The next sentence wasn't well taught out but at least it was sincere. He didn't know what else to say and it just came so naturally without any thought required.

"I'm… sorry…"

Yuugi flinched at those words. He threw himself at Yami, causing the older teen to wobble unsteadily on the branch.

"I forgive you! I forgive you! Now please get me off this tree!" He embraced Yami, most likely out of fear.

Yami did not like physical contact with strangers, yet he felt as if Yuugi was not really someone that rule would apply to.

He was just harmless, an easy exception for the rule. He patted the boy's head lightly and tried to position himself back up straight on the branch. With Yuugi in his arms it was hard to move around without falling over. _"This maybe wasn't the best time for an apology…"_

However, He just went with it. It also seemed as if Yuugi forgave him for whatever reason.

"Here. Hold on." Yami wrapped his arms around Yuugi's waist and legs. The younger boy thought the move was rather sudden and random until Yami explained himself.

"I'm about to jump, so close your eyes. Don't worry, it's a little higher than the window you jumped out of, but I think I'm gonna make it out without my legs breaking, much like you."

"No! Wait-!"

Yuugi's words did not reach Yami in time. He had jumped down from the tree and landed on his feet…then fell back with a loud "OUCH!" causing Yuugi to fall on top of him as well.

The fall had not been anything of what he expected. It felt like jolts of electricity fired through his feet the minute he made contact with the ground.

"That hurt way more than what it was supposed to..." He groaned.

"I was going to say… You're carrying another person with you. So you can't just expect to jump from such a height and land on your feet unharmed. Besides, I landed in the bushes."

Yuugi poked Yami's forehead lightly to see if he was still conscious, relieved when the older one opened his eyes. Yuugi's crying seemed to have ceased almost right upon contact with the ground. Yami looked up at him questionably. His expression seemed calmer once they were off the tree. He could not believe how Yuugi had panicked and cried so easily, yet managed to regain his cool so quickly once they were down. Crimson eyes stared into lavender silently, thinking, and lavender stared back with equally as much curiosity.

"You know I never noticed this before… but you have a pretty weird hairstyle even if it's sort of alike mine."

Yami blushed lightly at that random comment. Yuugi was acting as normal as ever, like the incident a while ago had not happened at all.

Nevertheless, he was a bit concerned about Yuugi's judgment on his "hair".

He hoped Yuugi was being sarcastic when he called it a 'style'. Yuugi placed both his arms on Yami's chest in a resting position, reminding Yami that the boy was still on top of him. Surely he figured the young one would step away soon, if not immediately.

Physical contact was not a problem anymore from his point of view. It actually really seemed like he was ok with it. Though, in this moment, there was a more important question to ask than why Yuugi was still on top of him.

"You're not hurt right?" Yami asked.

"Um…no?"

"Great. Then I kept my promise." Yuugi looked at him for a few seconds. Was he serious about that statement? It just sounded like something he'd say in a rush to calm the other down so they would not get caught. Yuugi was still lying on top of Yami, making him feel somewhat uncomfortable. It was not like they were willingly just lying here out of boredom.

He thought waiting for Yuugi to get off would do it but Yuugi seemed to be in deep thoughts, completely ignoring their position.

Then again, that was how Yami was in every classroom, so he could not really blame Yuugi for spacing out at some point too. Especially since this was not really something that would usually happen any regular day.

Yami got lightly impatient and looked away from Yuugi.

"Again, you're not lightweight, so ahm ...get off me?"

He blushed when he noticed in what an awkward position they were in, before quickly stepping back and pulling Yami up with him. Yami rubbed the back of his neck with both hands while he looked down at Yuugi.

Why was he out in the park this late anyways? Yuugi simply crossed his arms and tapped his index finger against his upper arm, looking into the deep forest.

Yami had decided to give him somewhat of a small explanation. There's that word again, explanation.

"Um... You know when I said 'sorry'?" Yami tried to start the conversation back up, yet Yuugi did not reply. His gaze was set on something else or maybe he was simply thinking. Yami, nevertheless, still continued. It was not for nothing. This needed to be said at some point and he might as well say it now to get it off his chest. Elaborate the apology.

"I wanted to apologize for telling you to piss of and…apologize for calling you an idiot. Acting like a jerk to push people away is a habit. I really didn't mean it, I'm sorry."

Yuugi finally turned his head around to look at Yami. The taller teen did not really know what to expect from those round lavender eyes at this point.

Though he was relieved when the boy smiled at him in return. It was relieving to see that smile again. That smile he thought was gone once he'd seen Yuugi cry. It really was a strange event. His mood also changed drastically, though that could be questioned later. For now, they needed to get out of the park, quickly.

"I forgive you." Yuugi walked closer towards Yami, looking him in the eyes while continuing to have that smile on his face. Yuugi pulled one of Yami's golden bangs down, so they were about at the same height.

"However…" Suddenly Yami did not feel so relieved. Was there a catch? Why was the boy still smiling if he was not going to forgive?

"…Pull me up a tree again, and I'll **kill you**."

Yami couldn't believe what Yuugi had just said. The worst part was that he was still smiling while saying it. Did he really anger Yuugi this much? Or did he just cause him to go mental because of the frightening experience?

"Uh…" Yami could not think of a single response to this. Yuugi turned around; quickly slapping himself in the face, most likely to see if this was actually real or just some messed up dream.

"Hope I didn't ruin your clothes by crying..." He muttered quietly.

"Hope I didn't look like a coward screaming for help just a few minutes ago."

"Well, now we're even." Yami raised a brow at that comment.

"Even?" he asked.

"Yep. I won't say anything if you don't say anything."

"Oh… I think telling on you will be worth it." He grinned which caused Yuugi to turn to him slightly worried.

"Please don't tell anyone!" Yuugi grabbed his hand, holding it tightly. It did hurt but not to the amount where Yami would push him away or scold him for it.

"It was a joke... Besides, it'd hurt my pride too much to admit I almost got killed and then saved by _you_." Yuugi had let go of Yami's hand, raised a brow and placed his hands on his hips. What did Yami mean by that statement?

"Oh, you don't think I have the strength to do something heroic?" "Hmmm…" Yami stared at him for a solid 10 seconds. Yuugi did not know what he was doing but allowed Yami to scan him for a brief moment. Yami simply looked at his hair, well too perfectly organized compared to his own, which still needed fixing. He then took a look at the clothes, more casual than what he was in the school uniform. It was a nice change from what he'd seen in school. His regular clothes seemed to fit on his figure nicer, also make him stand out much more with the vibrant color choice. Such a shame he'd only seen Yuugi in his school uniform until today, clearly he had a sense for fashion. Their uniforms really did not look all too interesting at all. Speaking of interesting, he really would not mind if the boy put some leather on. He had no idea why that thought just rushed through his head all the time but it did keep coming back.

_"Why do I keep going back to that thought all the time?" _he soon realized he had to say something.

"If you continue to throw rocks like that you might actually turn into a dangerous weapon. I'll stay away from you." He chuckled. Yuugi waved Yami to come and join him so they could walk out of the park together. Sure, they were going two separate directions but at least they could exit the park and then find a way around it.

Since Yuugi knew the area better he decided to follow Yami home instead, to make sure he was not in the hands of another thug. Then again, he felt like asking exactly why the man had attacked Yami.

Yami couldn't answer. He only shrugged in response. You'd think someone could take the situation a bit more seriously than just shrug it off as if it never happened. The violent man was obviously a drunk or very confused. He still wondered if the lady who ran away was all right at this time. It was late but she looked fairly content, apart from all the crying and yelling. She was probably home, safe by now.

As soon as they had stepped out of the park, Yami headed down the street. Eventually he and Yuugi would reach his house, but before they did that, he turned to Yuugi.

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. Thank you."

"…Thank you?" It was highly unusual to hear this. Two phrases he'd never expect Yami to say came right at him, 'thank you', and 'sorry'.

"Thank you… for saving me. I really don't know what I was thinking when I walked out this la-" He cut himself off and then looked at Yuugi in slight anger.

"Hey! Why are _you_ out at this time anyways? Do you want something bad to happen to you? Especially in Domino Park!"  
"Oh, you care so much." Yuugi laughed. Yami simply folded his arms across his chest and looked over into a different direction.

"I don't care, but I'm just saying that if you were the one who was attacked instead of me-"  
"You'd come and help."

Yami only blinked in confusion as his eyes were set on Yuugi again. He was about to open his mouth and speak, but Yuugi interrupted him.

"I don't doubt that one bit and neither do you."

How he could say it with such certainty was beyond Yami's understanding. He admitted however, that somehow, somewhere, he knew Yuugi would not hesitate one bit to do this again. He also knew he'd most likely do the same for Yuugi. This weird sensation he was feeling now, was it, perhaps-

"You-…"  
"That's the feeling of mutual friendship. Enjoy it, because you're not getting rid of it anytime soon. I'll make sure of that." It was. Yuugi simply waved Yami goodbye as he headed to walk around Domino Park instead.

Now, it was only time for Yami to head back home. He turned around and started walking rather quickly.

He could finally stop focusing on what happened a while ago and try to understand the conversation he just had with Yuugi. Mutual friendship. Was that really it? It did not seem unlikely. He put his hands in his pockets, shivering a bit from the cold air that filled the area.

It was too bad Monday would not come soon. He really wanted to talk to Yuugi some more, maybe outside of the school grounds, like here. It was a completely different environment and so much could be said without anyone else around to interrupt. He did know where he lived. Well, it did not look like a house but he assumed that the game shop was where his home was. So he did know where Yuugi lived. Maybe visiting was not that bad of an idea, and if he blew it, he could just say he came to look at some cards or games.

A smile spread across his face once he saw his house. Never had he ever assumed he'd be so happy to see Atem, or his new home again.  
He ran up towards the door and checked his pockets. Surprise struck him when he did not find what he needed; he checked his pant's pockets as well. No, still nothing.

_"I left my keys behind, didn't I?"_

He simply knocked on the door to get Atem to open it. The entire house was pitch-black. No one seemed to be inside, yet he knew Atem was. Where else would he be? Even if Atem went to sleep, there was no way he could not hear the knocking or now, what seemed to be, banging.

It wouldn't be possible to ignore this, that was, unless it was intentional. He did not know his brother all too well, but he knew he was capable of doing these sorts of stunts once he was mad, much like Yami. After a long time of just endless shouting. Yami leaned down against the wall and gave up.

"He locked me out. He really did." He then took a look up at the windows. Sadly, they were locked. No luck in getting in that way, there was also no way he'd smash one of the windows to get in either. He started chuckling and then laughing out loud.

"Oh, Atem. You know I'm going to kill you when I wake up, right?"


End file.
